


One Foot Through the Door

by TheGreatCatsby



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: M/M, Magic AU, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-04 03:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 50,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4123581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a series of murders being committed around Tokyo that aren't normal, and Kougami and Akane are determined to find the cause. And in order to do that, they're going to need a necromancer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a combination of two au's. The first is from a tumblr post going around about an au where your whole life you had your soulmate's last words to you on your skin (so technically, it would be possible not to find out who they were until they died.) The second is a magic au, which came about from an attempt to make that first au make sense, because I just couldn't convince myself that it wouldn't be weird to have words embedded in your skin for your whole life. So it's a little bit of a different take on it. 
> 
> For the sake of this fic--there's an underground magic community in Tokyo, and in general normal people don't know about the magical community. People who can use magic are witches, and each witch has an innate ability which their magic works best with. Some of these abilities require more power than others, and some people are able to use more power than others. 
> 
> So enjoy! This was meant to be short but it got away from me.

“Soulmates are real, and you can have more than one.” 

Kougami doesn't believe that for a second. 

“You don't believe me,” Akane says. 

Kougami sits up straighter. “Don't do that.” 

“Sorry.” Akane doesn't actually look sorry, and Kougami isn't actually angry. If there was something he really didn't want her to know, she wouldn't go looking for it. “But it's true. I read about it, and although most people would rather leave that sort of thing up to chance, I think it's interesting. Soulmate doesn't necessarily mean lover. It could mean 'best friend.' And you can have more than one. It's the people who are best suited to your personality.” 

“If there's more than one,” Kougami says, “then what's the point?” 

“It's not like you have hundreds,” Akane says. “At the most, you'll have five.” 

“Five,” Kougami repeats. “Is that a number you just made up?” 

“Maybe.” 

They often spend their days like this, behind the counter of a shop that caters to the occult. Very few people actually know real magic, but for those that do, Akane's shop is a good base for them to gain information and resources. 

Akane loves helping people. 

“And say I have five soulmates,” Kougami says, because the store is empty. It's almost always empty, tucked away down a small side-street. “How would I know who these five people are?” 

“There's a spell for that,” Akane says, reaching under the counter and pulling out a huge, old book. 

“I've read that book,” Kougami says. 

“Maybe you didn't read it carefully enough.” She starts flipping through the pages. Each time she flips a page, a cloud of dust rises into the air. Kougami isn't sure where all the dust comes from, given that the last time Akane touched the book was two days ago. It's not like it's had time to gather dust. But for some reason, it's always dusty. 

Kougami thinks that some witches probably like the feeling of ancient things a little too much. 

Akane stops flipping and says, “Oh.” 

Kougami looks over her shoulder. Unlike the yellowed pages of the book, this page is stark white. 

“That's a print-off from the internet,” Kougami points out. 

“Yeah, I forgot that's where it came from,” Akane says. She hands the page off to Kougami. “If you want to know.” 

“Why would I want to know?” Kougami asks. “I've been fine not knowing until now.” 

Akane just hums and Kougami takes the page anyway, because she's offering. He'll take it home and bring it back tomorrow and he won't read it, because the idea of soulmates is just strange to him. Like something out of a fairytale. 

“You're a witch,” Akane says without even looking at him. “Your whole life is like a fairytale.” 

Sometimes Kougami hates having a friend who can literally get inside his head. 

*

Kougami spends an hour not looking at the piece of paper on his kitchen counter as he makes dinner. He spends half an hour eating dinner, and somehow the paper has followed him, to rest next to his glass of water. He walks into his bedroom to read and the paper is next to him on the pillow. He can't read his book when it's sitting there like that. 

He picks up the paper. Makes a mental note to himself that even if he reads it, that doesn't mean that he's going to actually do what it says. He's just curious. He just wants to know. 

The paper tells him of spell that will, when completed, give him a glimpse of the identity of his soulmate(s) as well as their final words to the caster of the spell. Kougami actually says out loud, “Why would I want to know that?” 

Because one may find it useful to have an idea of how much time they have together, the paper helpfully supplies. 

The only exception to this is that if the spell-caster is meant to die before their soulmate, they will not hear any last words. 

“No,” Kougami says, setting the paper aside. He wonders what website Akane went on to find this spell. He wonders if she's used it. “No.” 

Half an hour later he has an assortment of lit candles, incense, a salt circle, and other strange items spread on the floor, with him in the center, and he closes his eyes and gets himself into the right mindset. He says words in a long-dead language and hopes he pronounced them right, because he rarily uses the sort of magic that requires speaking out loud. He feels a familiar tingle in his blood that lets him know the magic is working. 

His eyes are closed, but suddenly he's hit with a burst of color. A man with glasses, dark hair falling over his face, green eyes partly hidden. He hears him say, “Who are you?” 

And then another image, before Kougami can process the first. Large brown eyes, familiar, a fringe of brown hair, and he gasps, and then that image moves on, too. 

Another takes its place. White. Long qhite hair. Lips curled in a smirk. Sharp eyes. A book. A soft voice saying, “You and I would have changed the world.” 

And then black. 

Kougami opens his eyes, breathing hard. There's a moment where his pulse races, and he takes in the blown-out candles and the way his hands are clenched against each other, and suddenly he feels impossibly tired. His body feels too heavy. 

Three. 

*

“You did the spell,” Akane says. 

Kougami places the paper in front of her. “Yes. I did.” 

She watches him, carefully. 

“Did you?” Kougami asks. 

“No,” she says with a small smile. “I didn't want to know the second part, otherwise I would have.” 

Ah yes, last words. Kougami sighs and massages his temples. He isn't sure whether he should tell her. He has three soulmates. Akane is one of them. He'll die before her, apparently. And he has no idea who the other two are. 

“You don't have to say anything,” Akane says. “Take a look at this.” She slides a newspaper over the counter. 

Kougami is grateful. Grateful that she understands. Grateful that she doesn't look even though she's curious. 

He takes the newspaper and reads the front-page headline. “Inexplicable Murders Stump City Police.” 

“You think we should get involved?” Kougami asks. 

“We've never done murders before,” Akane says. They've investigated other strange happenings, things that they've figured have come from the magical community, all in hopes of keeping the peace. Especially since the magical community has never been revealed to the non-magical one. Mostly because people believe that if they knew about each other, they'd see each other as a threat. History had shown that to be true, before. 

Kougami scans the article. “Two of the murdered were police,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “But they're not magical, are they?” 

“I don't think so. Look at the cause of death.” 

Kougami reads further. At each crime scene, the area around the body had been coated with blood, like a strange halo surrounding the corpse, exploded outwards. But the body itself, in each case, had been free of blood. And there were no wounds on any of the corpses to explain the blood being displaced. And it was their blood, in each case, tests later showed. 

Fascinating. As much as Kougami knows about magic, he doesn't know what could do that. Something really powerful. 

“Okay,” Kougami says, taking a deep breath. “That sounds like us. But we're in the same position as the police, aren't we?” 

“Maybe not,” Akane says. “Shion might know someone.” She stands up. “We're closing the shop today.” 

“And deny all your customers business?” Kougami says. 

Akane is already halfway to the door. “You're excited about this.” 

He is. 

Ten minutes later they're standing in the lobby of a technology company. Shion meets them and gestures for them to take a seat in one of the waiting areas. She sits across from them and says, “You two read the papers this morning, didn't you?” 

By day, Shion works in tech. By night (or rather, by day and night but unbeknownst to her colleagues) she gathers information on everyone in the magical community in Tokyo. 

“Yeah,” Akane says. “If people are in danger, we need to help.” 

“You want to talk to the victims,” Shion says. 

“That would be helpful,” Kougami says. “The problem is, they're all dead.” 

Shion grins at him. “So what you want to ask me is if I know someone who specializes in that kind of magic.” 

“Do you?” 

Shion hums. “I might.” 

“Shion,” Kougami says, a warning. 

“It isn't a guarantee,” Shion tells them. “That kind of magic is rare enough as it is. I can give you the address of the person who might be able to help you, but they also might not.” 

“What are you talking about?” Kougami asks. 

“I knew a man who could do that kind of magic,” Shion says. “Incidentally, he used to be a bit of a vigilante in the community, sort of like you guys.” 

“We're not--” Akane starts, but Shion talks over her. 

“He died a few years ago, but he had a son,” she says. “I haven't heard much about him.” Which for her, is saying a lot. “I'm only assuming that he has the same sort of magical talent, but he might not. I know where he lives, but that's all I can give you.” 

She takes out a slip of paper and a pen and scrawls an address before handing it to Kougami. 

“Thanks,” Kougami says. 

“Anything else?” 

“We're good, for now.” 

To Akane, she says, “Did you get him to do the soulmate spell?” 

Akane laughs, awkwardly. Kougami looks between her and Shion. “Does everyone know about this?” 

“I found it for her,” Shion says. She stands up. “My break's over. Have fun, you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.” 

“That's a really short list,” Kougami mutters. 

“Well, I wouldn't fuck with the dead, but there you go.” Shion winks at him and heads off towards the elevators. 

“So,” Kougami says, glancing at the piece of paper he's been left with. “Might as well try, right?” 

*

The address leads them to a section of the city that's quiet, and an apartment building that looks relatively new. There's a park nearby, a few cafes, a book store. It's incredibly ordinary. 

The address Shion gave them is listed under a resident named “Ginoza Nobuchika.” Kougami decides that trying to explain to this guy why they want to see him over the building's intercom system would be too complicated, so he does a small unlocking spell to let them into the building. 

The elevator carries them to the ninth floor, and soon they're in front of Ginoza Nobuchika's door. Without a plan. 

“I'll do the talking,” Akane says. 

“Why can't I?” 

“You're,” Akane makes a vague hand gesture, “intense.” 

Kougami stares at her. 

Akane turns away, facing the door. “What if he's not home?” she wonders. 

“Then we'll wait,” Kougami says. 

Akane nods and knocks on the door. A dog barks. Akane and Kougami look at each other. 

“Witches like cats,” Akane says. “Do you think he has a cat, too?” 

“I don't think it matters what kind of pets he has,” Kougami says. 

Then the door opens, and Kougami's heart nearly stops. 

The man standing in front of him in a sweater and jeans is the same man he saw when he performed the spell the other night. The dark hair, falling to his chin, slightly obscuring his face. Glasses. Thin. Wearing a forest green sweater that matches his eyes. Slightly taller than Kougami himself, which is surprising. Not many people are taller than Kougami. 

At his side, a husky watches them warily. 

“Are you Ginoza Nobuchika?” Akane asks, breaking Kougami out of his daze. 

“Yes,” the man says. “Can I help you?” 

“Actually, yes,” Akane says. She sounds relieved. Probably that he's home. “It's, uh, actually something that requires a lot of explaining. It has to do with your father.” 

Ginoza's expression closes off. “I don't think I can help you,” he says, and starts to shut the door. 

Kougami places his foot in the way. “We need a necromancer.” 

“Kougami!” Akane cries. 

“Who--” Ginoza starts, and Kougami's heart speeds up. 

“We're witches,” he interrupts. “And we're investigating the recent murders in the city. You've heard about them, haven't you? Exsanguination, but no wounds to explain how. We want to keep both the magical community and the human community safe, and we can't do that unless we find out what's responsible.” He pauses. Then adds, “I'm Kougami Shinya, and this is Tsunemori Akane.” 

Ginoza stares at him, looking a combination of angry and shocked. 

“We don't have much time,” Kougami adds. 

“I'm not part of this,” Ginoza snaps, trying to force the door closed. But Kougami's foot is still in the way. His dog starts growling. 

“It's fine,” Akane says, holding her hands up. “We were just wondering if you could help, but if you--” 

“Can he do magic?” Kougami asks her. 

Akane's eyes widen. “I'm not going to--” 

“Can he?” 

The dog's growling becomes louder. 

“People are in danger,” Kougami insists. 

Akane closes her eyes. “Yes,” she says, inclining her head. 

Ginoza's eyes widen. The dog barks, startling Kougami enough that he takes a step back. And in that second, Ginoza shuts the door in his face. 

“Don't ask me to do that again,” Akane snaps. “He didn't want me to know that!” 

“We need him,” Kougami insists. 

“There's something called tact, Kougami,” Akane says. “We've invaded his privacy. He probably has a good reason for not wanting to get involved.” 

“And yet you're still here,” Kougami points out. “You know we need him just as well as I do.” 

Akane shifts on her feet. “Yes. But I won't do that again.” She sighs. “Besides, now he hates us. I told you to let me handle this.” 

“How experienced is he?” Kougami asks. 

Akane gives him a dirty look. “I didn't dig that deep. It was just a surface check. Just to get a very basic answer. I wasn't going to--” 

“Okay.” Kougami takes a deep breath. “But as it stands, if Shion says he's the only one who can do that kind of magic, then he's our only choice. We can't leave without him.” 

“Maybe if I look up a spell...” 

“It's an innate ability,” Kougami points out. “Not everyone can do it, and it's rare. You'd probably kill yourself trying.” 

Akane bites her lip, staring at the closed door in front of them as if she's willing it to open. Truth be told, both of them could probably open it if they really wanted to. Kougami is tempted. 

Before it can become a serious consideration, the door opens by itself. 

Akane and Kougami exchange a questioning look, as if to ask the other, “Did you do that?” 

Then Ginoza steps out, closing the door behind him and cutting off a worried whine from his dog. 

“I'll help you,” he says, “if you leave me alone after.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know anything about morgues.

The morgue is located in the basement of the largest hospital in the city, close to both the police headquarters and where most of the city's crimes that occur. On the way, Kougami had placed a call to make sure that no one else would be there when they arrived, and as they head into the basement, they don't see anyone. 

They head through the door to the morgue. Ginoza has been quiet the whole time, and the other two don't try to talk to him. Akane, probably because she feels like they've already asked Ginoza for a lot. Kougami, because he's thinking about what will happen when they get to the bodies. He's curious. He's never seen necromancy in action. 

A red-headed young man greets them, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

“Kagari,” Kougami says. “This is Ginoza Nobuchika.” 

Kagari grins, wide. “This'll be the most interesting thing to happen all year.” 

“Kagari pretty much runs this morgue,” Kougami explains to Ginoza, who nods. “He, uh, can also do magic. But he's not that good at it.” 

“Hey,” Kagari says, looking wounded. “I'm good! I just like a little flair, that's all.” 

“Setting things on fire with every spell isn't flair,” Kougami points out. “The bodies?” 

“There's three,” Kagari says. 

“Are we doing all three?” Ginoza asks, a slight edge to his voice. 

Kougami and Akane look at each other. 

“Hopefully we only need one,” Akane says. “We just need to get them to describe the criminal-” 

“You won't be talking to them,” Ginoza says. 

“Wha-” 

“Getting a dead person to talk is difficult,” Ginoza says. “And I haven't...I don't think I can do that today.” 

“So how--?” 

“I'll retrieve their memory instead. I'll see what they saw,” Ginoza says. “Every spell involving the dead connects them to the living. Whether they talk or not, I have access to their mind.” 

“That means,” Akane says, slowly, “that I'll need access to your thoughts when you're performing the spell.” 

After a moment's hesitation, Ginoza nods. 

“And I can pass those on to Kougami?” Akane asks. 

Again, Ginoza nods. 

“What about me?” Kagari asks. 

“It could be dangerous information,” Akane starts, at the same time as Kougami says, “No.” 

Kagari pouts. “Fine. Use me all you want to get bodies but don't give me any info.” 

“You'll get to see necromancy in action,” Kougami says. “Isn't that enough?” 

“I don't know,” Kagari sighs, but he heads over to the wall and tugs on one of the drawers, containing one of the bodies. 

The other three gather around. The chemical smell is strong. 

“A cop,” Kagari announces. “Hopefully, being a cop, she noticed things that an ordinary person wouldn't. Also, she's the youngest of them, only twenty-one. Which means her memory will be better.” 

They stare into the cold, pale features of the dead woman. Akane swallows. “She feels empty,” she says. 

“You'll read me,” Ginoza says. “Not her.” 

“Okay.” Akane grabs Kougami's hand. He looks at her, questioning, and she says, “I won't have to divide my concentration as much if I'm touching you.” She places her other hand on Ginoza's shoulder. 

Ginoza stares down at the body, but his eyes are blank. Like he's looking past it. Akane gives his shoulder an encouraging squeeze. 

Unwanted, a thought flits through Kougami's head: these two are my soulmates, and right now, we're all connected. He pushes it aside, knowing that in a few seconds, Akane will be in his head and any fleeting thoughts that he can't control, she might see. 

“Ginoza,” Akane prompts. 

Ginoza takes a sharp breath and places his hands on the dead woman's torso, one over her heart. He shudders, hard enough that both Akane and Kougami can feel it. Then he closes his eyes. 

The body jerks. 

A strange cold sweeps through Kougami, from his hand through the rest of his body, squeezing his heart. And then images start flooding in and he closes his eyes because it's become hard to tell what he's seeing in his head and what's in the room. 

He sees a white shirt, a glimpse of white hair, hears a voice whisper, “You should know what you're dealing with,” and then another voice cry out, “who are you?” 

“Makishima.” 

A sharp pain building and building and then a gasp, and suddenly, Kougami is very aware of Akane's cold hand in his and the sharp chemical smell of the room and he opens his eyes to see Kagari staring at him. 

Akane pulls her hand away and Kougami turns to find that she's kneeling next to Ginoza, who's on the floor, hunched over, his hands over his face. Shivering. 

Kougami realizes that he's shivering as well. The cold from before hasn't entirely gone away, and he feels like he needs a warm bath to completely get rid of it. 

“Holy shit,” Kagari says. 

Ginoza removes his hands from his face and shoots him a glare so icy that it could freeze over the hottest of deserts. 

Kougami starts laughing. 

Akane and Ginoza both stare at him. 

“I'm sorry,” Kougami says. “You look like an angry cat.” 

Ginoza makes a “tsk” sound and looks away from both of them. Akane offers him a hand and helps him up. He leans against the wall, apparently not caring that it's full of other dead people. His skin is too pale. 

“So,” Kagari says. 

“I'm not doing that again,” Ginoza says. 

“You don't have to,” Akane reassures him. “We have a name. And a face.” 

“We have hair,” Kougami points out. “We don't have a face.” 

“We have a name,” Akane says. “And I'm sure the more we go over that memory, the more details we'll get.” 

“I need to go home,” Ginoza says. He looks like he's going to collapse right then and there. 

“I'll drive you,” Akane says. 

Ginoza waves her off. “No. I just—I'll make my own way home.” He pushes past her and heads for the door. 

“Thank you,” Akane calls after him. 

“Wait,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza hesitates, and Kougami strides over to him and hands him a business card. “In case you need anything.” 

Ginoza takes it and heads off. 

“He couldn't leave fast enough,” Kagari remarks. “Where'd you find him?” 

“Shion found him,” Akane says. She looks a bit pale herself. “We should head back as well. Thanks again, Kagari.” 

“No problem,” Kagari says. “You know, maybe now's a good time for you to start teaching me more about magic.” 

“No,” Kougami says. 

Akane simply smiles at him and says, “Bye, Kagari.” 

“You're not gonna leave me alone with the body, are you?” Kagari protests. 

“We don't work here,” Kougami reminds him. 

“Yeah, but,” Kagari glances at the body, “it opened its eyes before.” 

“The spell's worn off,” Akane says. “She's back to being dead, now.” 

“How do you know,” Kagari mutters, but the other two ignore him and head out the door, leaving him with the body. 

*

“You're quiet,” Kougami says, handing Akane a cup of coffee. Akane takes a sip and grimaces. 

“This is really bitter,” she says. 

“Sorry,” Kougami says, taking a sip of his own coffee. The warm liquid starts to get rid of some of the cold from earlier, and judging from the way Akane clutches her cup close, she feels the same way. 

Akane sighs. “It's hard to just get what you're looking for when you're that connected to someone.” 

“Ginoza?” Kougami asks. 

She nods. Kougami wants to ask what she found, but he doesn't. He knows the only reason he wants to ask is because Ginoza is supposedly his soulmate. Then again, so is Akane. But he knows Akane. 

And what does that mean, anyway? 

Akane is his friend. They don't want to be anything else. They're close, their relationship is close, but it isn't romantic. And that's fine, for both of them. Akane is one of the most important people in his life. 

But soulmate? 

Then again, she'd told him herself that soulmates don't need to be lovers. 

He wonders if she knows. 

But if Akane is his friend, what will Ginoza be to him? 

He tells himself he shouldn't think about it. He should just let things take their natural course. 

Akane's voice breaks into his thoughts. “He was so scared.” 

Kougami frowns at her. “Why?” 

“He didn't know what he was going to see,” Akane says. “It's one thing to read about it, but he was reliving this woman's death.” 

“I didn't feel like that,” Kougami murmurs. 

“By the time the memories passed to you, they were dulled,” Akane says. “That's the other thing. He experienced the sharpest memories. What I got was secondary. I wish I could do the spell myself, but...” 

“It's innate magic,” Kougami finishes. “And Ginoza probably never wants to see us again.” 

“He wasn't just scared of what he'd see,” Akane says. She sounds sad. “He was scared of being involved with the community in general.” 

“Why?” 

“I didn't get much,” Akane says. “Just...death.” 

“Death?” 

“He was thinking about death.” 

“Oh.” 

“I guess it must be hard,” Akane sighs. “He can bring back the dead, but not himself. And it's hard magic. He must feel especially helpless whenever he loses someone, if he doesn't get to them in time or if he's just not around. Like he should be able to save them all with his magic.” 

“You got that from his head?” Kougami asks. 

“Intuition,” Akane says. “And a sense of inadequacy, from him.” 

Kougami drains the rest of his coffee, already growing cold. “But we have a name. Makishima.” 

Akane nods, sitting up. “Right,” she says. “Makishima.” 

They spend the rest of the day trying to find out who Makishima is. 

By the time they leave the shop, at half past midnight, they still haven't got a clue. 

*

“Hello?” 

“Is this Kougami?” 

It takes Kougami a moment to recognize the voice on the other end of the phone. “Ginoza?” 

“Can I come to the shop?” Ginoza asks. He sounds agitated. 

“Yeah. It's open.” 

“To talk to you,” Ginoza clarifies. “And your friend.” 

“Yeah, we'll be here.” 

“Thank you. I'll be there soon.” Ginoza hangs up. 

Kougami looks over the various notes he and Akane have taken over the past day and a half. There's very little they can find on Makishima. They had so little on him to begin with, and it's clear that they need more to conduct an effective search. He wonders why Ginoza wants to come see them. If he were being honest with himself, he never expected to see Ginoza again. 

Akane appears some time later with coffee from a shop down the road, much less bitter than the kind Kougami had made yesterday. It isn't sweet, but it doesn't taste acrid, and she sips hers with a contented look. And says to him, “this is how you do coffee.” 

“I'm sorry I'm not an expert,” Kougami says. “By the way, Ginoza is coming.” 

Akane nearly drops her drink. “What?” 

“He called. He didn't say why.” 

“I thought he hated us,” Akane says. 

“Did you get that from his head, too?” 

“No,” Akane admits. “I just assumed...” The door to the shop opens, and Akane beams at whoever's just entered the shop. 

Kougami turns to see Ginoza there, looking a bit lost as he steps inside and takes in his surroundings. 

“You actually,” he says, “own an occult shop.” 

“It's a front,” Kougami says. Which is half-true. 

“Huh.” 

“Take a seat,” Akane says, gesturing to the chair next to her. Ginoza perches himself on the end of the chair. 

“So,” Kougami says, “you wanted to talk.” 

Ginoza takes off his glasses, starts cleaning them. As he does, looking at neither of them, he says, “Despite not wanting to get involved in magic, I've picked up a few things here and there. And I know that out of all of us, I'm the one with the sharpest recollection from that police woman's memory.” He replaces his glasses and looks Kougami in the eye. “There are some things you might have missed.” 

“I tried to be as thorough as possible,” Akane says. 

Kougami is struck by how green Ginoza's eyes are. Then he looks away. 

“I've written up a detailed account of what I saw,” Ginoza says, reaching into his pocket and taking out a few folded pieces of paper. He hands them off to Akane, who reads them and then, without comment, hands them to Kougami. 

Ginoza waits, hair obscuring part of his face. But his mouth is set in a tense line. 

He wasn't kidding when he said that the account was detailed. Ginoza includes the smallest things in his description, whether they might be important or not. He notes a flash of silver, a cold feeling against the neck of the police woman, the smell of old books, white deck shoes, garbage bags stacked a few feet away, the sound of many cars in the distance, a door in front of him leading into an apartment building, a fleeting thought about having just been called out for a robbery and that this part of the city wasn't bad, it was just a block away from the shopping district... 

Kougami sucks in a breath. “Akane,” he says, “did you get all of this?” 

“No,” Akane says. “That's the problem with getting memories second-hand. Some of it, yes, but not this level of detail. I didn't know that she'd been near the shopping district, and I didn't catch the smell of books.” 

“You still got more than I did,” Kougami mutters. He sets the papers down and looks up at Ginoza. “I think we can find out where the murder took place, with this. Thank you.” 

Ginoza is silent for a moment. Then he says, as if the words are forcing themselves out, “I want to help.” 

“Why?” 

“I can't get it out of my head,” Ginoza says. “And if there's a real danger to the city, I can't just...stop knowing what I know. And I'm the only one who can extract memories from the dead.”

“Don't feel like you have to, just because of that,” Akane says. 

“I couldn't sleep last night,” Ginoza says. “I don't like magic. But I can't forget about this.” 

“Okay,” Akane says. “We'd be happy to have you.” She smiles at him. And he gives her a small smile in return. 

*

That afternoon, they manage to find out where the police woman's murder took place and head to the site to see if they can find anymore clues to lead them to Makishima. 

As they head into the alleyway that they've determined was the scene of the crime, Kougami asks Ginoza, “So what do you do when you're not raising the dead?” 

Ginoza bristles slightly at the question but says, “I train dogs.” 

“So you're your own boss?” 

“Yes.” 

“You work by yourself?” 

“Yes.” 

“Doesn't that get lonely?” 

Ginoza glances at him. “The dogs are nice.” 

He quickens his pace to catch up with Akane, who's already at the site where the body was found, now cleaned of blood and all physical remnants of the murder. Kougami follows, a bit perplexed at Ginoza's response. 

“Kougami,” Akane says. 

Kougami begins circling the scene of the crime, looking for signs of magic used. This is his specialty. He can detect hints of magic where other people can't, and it's almost like a game, trying to find these vestiges of spells and figure out where they came from and what they were used for. Akane and Ginoza watch him as he works, and he's aware of Ginoza wrapping his arms around himself, like he's cold. Perhaps he can feel death more acutely because of his abilities. 

At first, nothing seems out of the ordinary. And then Kougami steps where the body would have been sprawled out on the ground, and it slams into him. 

He can feel the power—even though it's residual, it's incredibly strong. Cold sweeps over him, and he tries to concentrate, tries to get past the sheer forcefulness of the power in order to figure out what it was actually used for, and whether it can tell him anything about the person using it. 

What he picks up on is a feeling. Curiosity. 

He takes a step back to clear his head, and notices that Akane and Ginoza are staring at him, Akane with concern. 

“Did you find anything?” she asks. 

“Whoever this Makishima is,” Kougami says, “he's powerful. And he was curious. He wanted to know something, but I don't know what.” 

“Curious,” Akane repeats. “So he didn't have some sort of grudge against the people he killed. Or at least, not with this victim.” 

Kougami has felt magic cast from emotion before. Magic born of anger, of hatred. But this magic feels oddly tranquil, even though it was powerful enough to kill. “I don't understand,” he says. 

And that's when his cell phone rings. 

He picks it up and hears Kagari's voice on the other line, saying, “Kou-chan, I have another body for you! And this one's weird. The police don't want people to know about it. Like, at all.” 

“Weird?” Kougami repeats. “Weird how?” 

“Welll,” Kagari says, “it's empty.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

As Kougami, Ginoza, and Akane stand over the body in the morgue, they all feel different things. Awe, disgust, and shock are a few. 

Kagari is bouncing on the balls of his feet, hands shoved in his pockets. “So are you gonna do the cool spell thing or what?” 

It's a young man, and he looks odd. Empty. Because he is empty. Kagari had shown them photos of the crime scene, and not only had his blood been displaced from his body, but so had his organs. Every organ. Including the brain. And there was no incision. No wounds at all. They were torn out without having to break the skin, and arranged around the body like a warning. 

Kougami and Akane turn to Ginoza. 

“Fine,” Ginoza says. He places his hands on the body. Akane places her hand on Ginoza's arm. Kougami decides to sit this one out, just because he knows the memory he'll get will be diluted. 

“So he can get their memories,” Kagari says, “and he can bring them back for short periods of time to ask questions. But can he bring them back for longer?” 

A sharp intake of breath from Ginoza, not in response to Kagari's question but because of the spell. The body shudders beneath his hands. 

“I don't know,” Kougami says. “I don't think so. Just doing this makes him tired. It'd take a lot more power to bring someone back in a more permanent way.” But he does wonder if Ginoza hasn't quite reached his limit yet. To bring someone back from the dead, to give them a few more months or years, that would be the ultimate power to have. 

He wonders if Ginoza can actually do it, and has never tried. 

A scream tears him away from that thought. 

Ginoza cries out again and staggers back. The body on the table falls still. Ginoza nearly falls over, but Akane steadies him and guides him towards the wall for support. 

“Akane?” Kougami asks. 

Akane closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Take him home.” 

*

The car ride to Ginoza's apartment is silent. Ginoza faces the window, and out of the corner of his eye Kougami can see that he's shivering. 

Kougami doesn't try to talk to him. Akane wouldn't have told him to take Ginoza home if it wasn't important. Whatever they saw, or experienced, it must have been terrible. 

He imagines that Akane is still at the morgue, trying to placate Kagari's curiosity while also trying to find out what the police are thinking about these murders. How much they know, whether anyone on the force is aware of the magic community or even part of it. 

Kougami ends up accompanying Ginoza to his apartment. When they reach his door, Ginoza fumbles with the keys, then drops them. Kougami picks them up and unlocks the door for him. He doesn't miss how Ginoza's hands curl into fists at his sides. 

Kougami guides Ginoza to the couch. His dog, Dime, pads over and nudges Ginoza's leg, but Ginoza doesn't seem to notice. He drops onto the couch, pulls his knees up to his chest. Kougami sits next to him, and the only sound is Ginoza drawing shaking breaths, which begin to grow more erratic. He clutches at the fabric of his sweater, directly over his heart, knuckles turning white. 

“Ginoza,” Kougami says. He moves closer as Ginoza's breathing becomes almost labored, places a hand on Ginoza's shoulder. The other man shudders. “You're fine. You're home. You're fine.” 

Curiosity and concern are both vying for dominance in Kougami's head. He knows he should be more concerned, but he wants to know what could have made Ginoza react the way he has. 

Dime nudges Ginoza's feet, and absently, Ginoza reaches out with his other hand to run his fingers through Dime's fur. Gradually, his breathing calms down. 

“What happened?” Kougami asks. 

“I felt it,” Ginoza says, his voice almost too quiet to hear. 

“You what?” 

“He was alive when his organs were ripped out of him,” Ginoza says. “For a few seconds, but it was enough. For a few seconds he felt it, and he was afraid. Terrified.” He turns to Kougami. “He knows.” 

“What?” 

“Makishima,” Ginoza says, his expression hardened. “I still didn't see his face. But I heard him. I--” Ginoza suddenly lurches forward, off the couch, displacing Dime and reaching for a notepad and pen lying on the coffee table in front of him. He kneels on the floor and starts writing, almost frantically.

Kougami watches in awe. It hasn't even been an hour since he cast the spell, and yet Ginoza is reliving it on paper. “You don't have to do this,” Kougami says. 

“It's fresh now,” Ginoza mutters. He keeps writing. Kougami leans forward to watch, and even though he can't see the words, he still watches Ginoza's hand race across the paper, now steady even though a few minutes ago he'd been shaking like a leaf. Kougami wonders if he needs this, needs a purpose to distract him from the horrible things he's seen. 

Then Ginoza stops writing and jerks back, hitting the edge of the sofa, startling Dime. He runs a hand through his hair and looks around, like he's searching for something else. Kougami touches his shoulder and he twitches. 

“Relax,” Kougami says, sliding down onto the floor to sit next to him. 

“You must think I'm pathetic,” Ginoza says. “This is your job.”

“I don't think that,” Kougami says. 

“I've run away from what I am,” Ginoza says. “From what I can do. You and Akane have embraced it.” 

“What we can do and what you can do are different things,” Kougami points out. “Though, what you can do...” He stops, wondering if this is the right time to indulge his own curiosities. 

“I hate it,” Ginoza says, and the venom in his voice surprises Kougami. He looks over, trying to see Ginoza's face, but Ginoza has turned away. 

Kougami doesn't understand. How can Ginoza hate a power that can bring back the dead, that can give someone more closure than most people will ever get to have? It's the sort of magical ability that many people would die for. 

“You're wondering how I can hate it,” Ginoza says after a moment. 

Kougami stares at him. 

“The way you and Akane and Kagari talk about it,” Ginoza continues, “like you wish you could have the ability.” 

“It sounds like you wish you didn't,” Kougami says. 

“I think my life would be better if the dead could just stay dead,” Ginoza says. “You don't have to stay. I'm tired. I might--” 

“I'll stay,” Kougami says. Even though he should bring the notes Ginoza has written to Akane, he feels a pang of guilt. He dragged Ginoza into this when he was trying to avoid it. 

Ginoza shivers, and Kougami pulls him closer. He gives Kougami a questioning look, but Kougami only says, “You're cold. Is that a side-effect of the spell?” 

Ginoza nods. He feels tense, but gradually, he begins to relax into Kougami, his head resting on Kougami's shoulder. They don't say anything, and it's oddly comfortable, even though they're sitting on the floor, backs braced against the sofa. Ginoza's breathing becomes soft, tickling Kougami's neck. He's fallen asleep. 

Kougami stays still, feeling the other man become gradually warmer against his side. This feels nice. It's been a long time since Kougami has just been with another person, enjoying their presence without needing to do anything. He doesn't know why he enjoys Ginoza's presence, but he does. 

Maybe it's the way that, even though he didn't want to do this, Ginoza has continued to help them. Ginoza, he thinks, is someone who's probably been looking for a purpose and has just recently found it. Perhaps, given time, he'll even learn to like the ability he's been given, if he can see how useful it is. 

Kougami wonders what made him hate it in the first place. 

Maybe, he thinks, he's feeling this way about Ginoza because Ginoza is supposed to be his soulmate, and as much as he tries not to think about it the same way he tries not to think about how Akane is one of his soulmates, it's still in the back of his head. 

After an hour his phone buzzes with a text from Akane asking him if everything is okay, and he takes that as a sign that he should leave. Untangling himself from Ginoza is hard—he doesn't want to let go of the feeling of Ginoza pressed against his side, for once relaxed. Ginoza's head rests against the edge of the sofa now, and Dime takes Kougami's place. Ginoza's hand shifts to tangle in Dime's fur. 

Kougami forces himself to look away and grabs the notes Ginoza had written up, steps over him and Dime, and heads out the door. 

*

“'He grabs the man from the back, so that his face can't be seen,'” Akane reads. “'His fingers press against the man's neck. They're soft, so not used to manual labor. He's wearing a crisp, white shirt as before. He says, 'Keep looking, and you might not like what you find.' The man asks, 'What?' Makishima says, 'This is a warning. I had hoped you would understand.' The man feels confused. He begs for his life. He sees Makishima's shoe, dressy, brown, leather. Khaki dress pants. The lower part of a waistcoat. The man is thinking that this person doesn't look like a murderer.' The rest is...rather graphic.” 

The rest Kougami knows from what Ginoza described to him, about the man being alive for a few seconds. There are more notes after that, suggesting the location, which wasn't disclosed in the report Kagari had been given by the police. 

“He knows we're looking,” Kougami says. 

“The police don't seem to be aware of magic, but they know something strange is going on,” Akane says. “That's why they wouldn't disclose the location of the murders in the reports sent to the morgue. They won't talk to anyone outside of the police force. Kagari says they're a lot colder when talking to him. Almost as if they would rather not bring these bodies to the morgue at all, but the police headquarters isn't equipped to store bodies.” 

“They're evidence,” Kougami says. Something clicks in his head. “The sense of magic I got was completely unemotional, except for curiosity. And in the memories Ginoza extracted, Makishima doesn't talk to his victim at all. He was talking to us. These people aren't being murdered in the same way most people are. They're being used. Like objects, or props. To send a message.” 

“'I hoped you would understand,'” Akane murmurs. “He thinks we know what he's trying to do and we don't approve, and that's why we're trying to stop him. But we don't know.” 

“These are very public, very visual murders,” Kougami says. “To the policemen and the medical examiners they're impossible.” 

“I wonder if he knows about Kagari,” Akane says. 

Kougami frowns at her. “What?” 

“These are impossible murders, by most human standards,” Akane says. “But to us, they make sense. The only way to explain them would be to look outside what most people accept as fact. To look at the supernatural. Makishima wants to expose the magical community, and he's doing so by showing the police that what they think is impossible actually exists, and that it's way more powerful than anything they imagined. This isn't just some ghost making noises in an old house. This is something that can kill you without leaving a mark. Something you can't possibly begin to fight.” 

“He wants to show how powerful we are,” Kougami says. “He thinks we'd understand because we're tired of hiding and not using magic to its full potential. He...” Something else clicks. “He's curious about how people will react.” 

“And he's assuming that no one in the magical community is employed by the police,” Akane says, “otherwise they would have been doing damage control before we could even find out about it. But I don't think he knows that Kagari works in the morgue. If he did, he'd probably try to get Kagari on his side. To convince him that revealing magic is the right thing to do, and that he has power over the police. But Kagari hasn't been contacted by anyone.” 

“Kagari doesn't usually practice magic,” Kougami says. “Which is fine. I don't want to know what a man like Makishima would do if someone refused an offer from him.” 

Akane pales. “But we still don't know who he is.” 

“But we're close,” Kougami says. “Makishima said that this last death was a warning. The warning was keeping the victim alive long enough for him to feel the pain of being torn apart from the inside. He doesn't want us to keep looking, because there's something he doesn't want us to see.” 

“If you use enough power to cast a spell,” Akane says, “you put a lot of yourself into it. He's afraid that if we keep looking, we'll get a sense of who he is just from the residual magic around the bodies or the locations.” 

“The location!” Kougami stands up. “We should go to--” 

“Sit down,” Akane says. “We can't go rushing into these things. Especially since we know that Makishima knows we're looking. We have to be careful.” 

“We don't have time to be careful,” Kougami snaps. “He clearly doesn't have a problem with killing as many people as he wants.” 

“How's Ginoza?” Akane asks. 

That stops Kougami in his tracks. He sits down again. “He's fine.” 

“He didn't look fine.” 

“What about you? You experienced the same thing?” 

“He kicked me out of his head just before the man was killed,” Akane says. 

Kougami stares at her. “What?” 

“I didn't know he knew how to do that,” Akane adds. “It was a bit shocking to suddenly come up against a wall and then...you know. He must've had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.” 

“He didn't kick you out last time,” Kougami says. 

“No. But that death didn't involve a man's organs being ripped out of his body.” Akane places her hand on top of the papers. “Are you sure he's fine?” 

“He was fine when I left him.” 

Akane grins at him. “You did spend a lot of time over there.” 

“What are you trying to say, Akane?” 

“Nothing.” The grin is still on her face and her eyes sparkle with some sort of mischief that suggests it's definitely not nothing. 

Kougami wonders if now is a good time to tell her about what he saw in the soulmate spell. And whether he should leave out the part about her. 

“You never did tell me how the soulmate spell went,” Akane adds. 

“Are you kidding me,” Kougami says. 

“So the two are related.” 

Kougami makes a choking noise. 

“I didn't use magic for that,” Akane adds, looking a little smug. “You're just obvious sometimes. Is Ginoza your soulmate?” 

“Yes. But I'm not gonna let a spell dictate anything about my life.” Kougami runs a hand through his hair. “Besides, the second part of the spell doesn't make sense.” 

Akane's brow furrows. “The part about last words?” 

Kougami nods. 

“What were they?” Akane asks. 

“'Who are you?'” Kougami says. “But he knows me. And he's not dead.” 

“Maybe the spell doesn't work properly on people whose abilities have to do with necromancy,” Akane suggests. “Having that kind of relationship with the dead probably confuses things.” 

“True,” Kougami says. He hadn't thought about that. 

“You should take him to dinner,” Akane adds. 

“I just said--” 

“Or not,” Akane says. “But you shouldn't avoid liking him just because you don't want a spell to dictate your life.” 

“I don't—I can see him as a friend,” Kougami allows. 

“Soulmates can be friends,” Akane reminds him. “Anyone you have the ability to have a strong relationship with.” 

Kougami sighs. “I shouldn't have told you.” 

“Kougami?” 

“What?” 

Akane's grin is too wide. “You don't really feel that way.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some investigating!

The rest of the week, there aren't any murders. At least, not ones that they hear about. 

Kougami decides to go for a walk in the park to get his thoughts in order. He's barely five minutes in when he sees a very familiar dog a few feet ahead, being walked by a very familiar owner. 

Or maybe they're walking together. Dime isn't on a leash, but he's staying close to Ginoza despite the many distractions around them. Kougami walks behind them and follows, until they get deeper into the park, and most of the people surrounding them fall away. 

“Ginoza!” he calls out, and Ginoza stops and turns. His eyes widen when he sees Kougami, and for a moment Kougami is afraid that Ginoza doesn't want to see him. But then, Ginoza offers him a small smile. 

“Hello, Kougami.” 

Kougami realizes that he's never seen Ginoza smile before, but it's soft. It's lovely. 

He falls into step next to Dime as they continue into the park. And then Ginoza steps off the trail, into a field, and heads for a tree. He settles against the trunk, and Kougami sits in front of him, and Dime sits between them. 

“I like this place,” Ginoza says after a moment. “It's best in the winter.” 

“In the winter?” Kougami repeats, thinking of ice and slush and needing extra blankets. “You can't sit out here in the winter.” Ginoza raises an eyebrow. “Well, you can, but it won't be pleasant.” 

“I like it,” Ginoza says. “Everything feels cleaner. Clearer.” 

“Weird,” is all Kougami says. He likes the spring. He likes that everything is colorful and that he can step outside and feel at home and not feel too hot or too cold. 

“Thank you,” Ginoza adds, “for staying the other day.” 

“I did leave you while you were asleep,” Kougami points out. 

“You did,” Ginoza says. The look he gives Kougami is hard to decipher. 

“You can come back to the shop with me if you want,” Kougami says. “Akane and I are still trying to figure out who this Makishima can be, and where he's based. Akane's picking up a map of the city today, so we can mark the locations of the murders and see if there's a pattern. It'll be easier to look at when it's laid out in front of us.” 

Ginoza looks bemused. “You seem obsessed with catching Makishima.” 

“He's trying to expose the magic community,” Kougami says, “but not in a good way. He's trying to make people afraid, to show them that there's something more powerful out there and that they're helpless.” 

“How do you know that?” Ginoza asks. 

“Akane and I talked about it,” Kougami says. “I can update you.” 

“Have you stopped thinking about this since we left the morgue the other day?” Ginoza asks, but he already looks like he knows the answer is no. 

Kougami grins at him. “You can't tell me you don't want to know who's behind this.” 

“I'm not sure I do,” Ginoza mutters. 

Kougami becomes more serious. “The murders won't stop until we find him. If he's willing to kill people for attention, who knows what he'll do if he has an actual agenda. He's dangerous, Ginoza.” 

“I know,” Ginoza says, looking away. 

“Come on,” Kougami says, standing up. 

“We just got here,” Ginoza says, but he stands up all the same, sighing. 

“I think you'll find what we have to say interesting,” Kougami says, and he leads Ginoza out of the park. 

*

The map is spread out on the counter of the shop. Akane has closed early in order to explain to Ginoza what she and Kougami have concluded about what they think Makishima's motives are. 

As it turns out, because the locations of each murder weren't reported to the morgue, there's only two locations that they can concretely pin down, and only because Ginoza looked into the victims' memories. Which means...

“We have to see the others,” Kougami says. “Two isn't enough.” 

“Kougami,” Akane warns. 

“Fine,” Ginoza says. 

“Ginoza,” Akane sighs. 

“You won't stop obsessing over this until we actually find Makishima,” Ginoza says to Kougami. “Which means you won't leave me alone until we find him.” 

“You know me so well,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza rolls his eyes. “So call Kagari and tell him what we need.” 

Akane glances between Kougami and Ginoza. And then she smiles. “Let's get started.” 

One morgue visit and four memory resurrections later, Kougami and Ginoza stand over the map, pouring over the streets. Several pieces of loose paper are scattered around, Ginoza's notes on the appearance of each location, and now they're taking the details they have and applying them to the map to narrow down where each murder took place. 

Akane has gone to get them food and coffee, because despite being tired from experiencing more deaths, Ginoza seems determined this time to see his efforts to some sort of conclusion. He leans over the map, finger tracing the course of a street in one section of the city, and bites his lip. Kougami leans over him, touching Ginoza's shoulder to steady himself, and for once Ginoza doesn't tense at his touch. 

“This might be one,” he says, marking two-thirds down a street half a mile away. “We could be completely wrong, by the way.” 

“How do you mean?” Kougami asks, and Ginoza does shift a little at that, because he's practically said the words in Ginoza's ear. But, Kougami notices, Ginoza doesn't move away entirely. 

“I mean,” Ginoza says, “that maybe there is no pattern. Maybe the locations don't matter.” 

“But what if they do?” 

“This is a very thorough investigation for someone who isn't an investigator,” Ginoza points out. “You don't need to be doing this. It's dangerous.” 

“You want to be doing this less than I do and yet here you are.” 

“Because apparently I'm the only one who can help you, and you and Akane are both persistent. This isn't your responsibility.” 

“We have the means to stop him,” Kougami says. “More so than the police. So we do have the responsibility. Or I feel like I do. I can't watch this happen and do nothing, and I know Akane feels the same way.” 

“What will you do when you find him?” Ginoza asks. 

The question catches Kougami by surprise. Ginoza turns around to look Kougami in the eye, as if searching for the answer there. 

“You don't know,” Ginoza says. 

“Does it matter?” 

Ginoza starts to move, but Kougami catches him by the arm. “Yes it matters,” Ginoza says. “Makishima is dangerous. We can't blindly rush in and hope that whatever happens when we meet him will solve the problem. The truth is, you're not police. You don't have the power to arrest someone, or carry out justice. Are you going to go to them and have them confront Makishima?” 

Again, Kougami doesn't answer. Anything he wants to say gets stuck in his throat. 

But Ginoza is sharp. “No. You won't,” he says. “You don't believe they have the ability to help. At all.” 

“Makishima is powerful,” Kougami manages. “He'll escape.” 

“Have you even bothered to check whether there's anyone capable of magic in the police force?” Ginoza asks. 

He has not, and Ginoza starts to pull away again, but Kougami holds him fast. “If we find him, and stop him, you won't have to raise any more dead people.” 

“And if someone else takes his place? If this sort of thing happens again?” 

Kougami hasn't thought about that. 

“Because that's possible,” Ginoza continues. “Makishima can't be the only magic user to ever want to murder people.” 

“You're a bit of a pessimist,” Kougami murmurs. “I'll have you know that murder in the magical community is extremely rare.” 

“Based on your experience,” Ginoza says, “which isn't an accurate measure of the history of this city.” 

“Point,” Kougami admits. His gaze flickers away from Ginoza's eyes. “But you have enough faith in Akane and I to be involved anyway.” 

“You wouldn't get very far if you couldn't raise the dead,” Ginoza says. “And someone has to point out the flaws in your plan. And there are many.” 

“So? No plan is perfect.” 

“You could get hurt.” 

“Does it matter if I get hurt?” 

“You could die,” Ginoza says.

“Yeah, but I have you around to bring me back, right?” 

It's a joke, but Ginoza twists away, finally freeing himself, and strides for the door. For a second, Kougami thinks he'll leave, and maybe it was a bit too serious of a thing to joke about, given that Ginoza doesn't actually enjoy using his abilities. But Ginoza stops short at the door, presses his hand, balled into a fist, against his mouth, and becomes still. 

“Gino?” Kougami says. He's afraid that if he moves, Ginoza will take that last step out the door, and not come back. “What's wrong?” 

Ginoza doesn't answer. 

“I know you don't like bringing people back,” Kougami says. “I won't make you do that for me. If I'm dead, I'm dead.” 

Ginoza turns, dropping his hand. “Stop talking,” he snaps. 

“But I--” 

“Don't talk about dying.” 

“But why--” 

Ginoza strides over to him, places one hand behind Kougami's neck, pulls him close, and kisses him. 

It lasts just long enough for Kougami to start to kiss back, but when he does, Ginoza pulls back, but doesn't look away. 

“That's why,” Kougami murmurs. He moves closer, but Ginoza steps back. 

“I'm not going to do this with someone who has no regard for their own life,” he says. 

“Ginoza,” Kougami says. “How do you feel about me?” 

“I think you know,” Ginoza says. “That isn't--” 

This time it's Kougami who interrupts him with a kiss. He drags his fingers through Ginoza's hair, and then a soft touch on his cheek makes him pause. 

Ginoza's hand is cupping his face. 

Then Ginoza moves back. Starts to say something. 

And the door opens, Akane stepping inside with bags of food. She sees them both standing there and asks, “What happened?” 

“We might have found one of the locations,” Kougami says. 

“Oh, good!” Akane heads for the map, and just like that, they're back to work. 

Soulmate #2, Kougami thinks, is my lover. 

*

The next afternoon Akane receives a call from Kagari. By now, they've managed to map all the locations where the murders took place. But there is no pattern. 

It's disheartening, and frustrating, and Kougami knows he should've seen this coming. Makishima won't let himself be caught so easily. 

Then Akane gets off the phone with Kagari and says, “There's another body.” 

Ginoza visibly tenses. 

“Well,” Akane adds, “it's not...actually a body.” 

Ginoza half-rises from his chair and Kougami says, “What.” 

“The police found...bits. Like the person exploded. No identity has been assigned yet. Kagari received the parts in a bag. The police actually did give a location in the report to the morgue this time, just in case they missed some bits that turn up later.” 

“So we can't bring this person back,” Kougami says. 

Akane looks at Ginoza. 

Ginoza straightens up. “I need to go home.” 

And then he turns and heads out the door. 

“Should I follow him?” Kougami asks. 

“No,” Akane says. “He has a good reason.” 

*

Two hours later, Ginoza returns to the store, where Kougami and Akane have folded up the map and put it away. They're pretending to actually be open for now, but when Ginoza plops down a thin black book on the counter, Akane heads over to the door to flip their “open” sign to “closed.”

“I hope no one needs anything,” she says brightly. 

“What is that?” Kougami asks, picking up the book. It's light, but something about it weighs heavy when he thinks about opening the cover to look inside. And it's cold. He places it back on the counter. 

“My father was more involved in magic,” Ginoza says, and there's something detatched about the way he talks that makes Kougami shiver. “He had this book. When he died, I inherited it. Inside are the various ways in which one can raise the dead, ranging from long-term returns to simply calling back a soul for a short time.” 

“Calling back a soul,” Akane says with a wide smile. “We can still get the memory.” 

“The process is slightly different,” Ginoza says, tapping his fingers on the cover of the book. “We need to be at the location of death, because that's where the strongest connection can be made. And we need a salt circle around the person performing the spell so that nothing else can interfere. And...” His fingers still, hovering over the book. “It isn't possible to do a simple memory extraction this way.” 

Akane and Kougami exchange looks. “It's not?” 

“Because there's nothing physical for the soul to latch onto while it's here,” Ginoza says, “it needs a host. For a few moments, I would be taking that soul into my own body, sort of channeling it. And while I'm...possessed, for lack of a better word, I can see its memories. Which may require a bit of searching. And it may want to talk. I might have a hard time controlling that.” 

“Possession,” Akane says. She's no longer smiling. 

“What I get when I see the experience of death is even more detailed than what I get when I extract memories from the dead,” Ginoza says. “At least according to this.” He places his hand on the book. “I haven't done it before. I'm not...I can't guarantee that I'll even be capable of this level of magic. But if I can, chances are, I'll be able to get a lot more of a sense of what kind of magic Makishima is using, and who he is.” 

“Then we should do it,” Kougami says. 

Akane makes a small noise of protest. “What if you can't get rid of the soul?” 

“Hah, then I die,” Ginoza tells her. 

“You what?” 

“It also depends on who this person was,” Ginoza adds. “If they don't mind being dead, they won't want to stay. If they want revenge, they might want to take me with them.” 

“You didn't do anything,” Kougami points out. 

“I'd be making them relive their murder,” Ginoza says. 

“You don't have to do this,” Akane says. 

“I know why Makishima did this,” Kougami says. “He thinks that by making sure there's no intact body, we can't get more information about him. He thinks he's got us stuck.” 

“He does have us stuck,” Akane argues. 

“No, he doesn't.”

“I'll do it,” Ginoza says. 

Kougami and Akane turn to stare at him. And both start to say, “Ginoza-” at the same time. 

“I might not even succeed,” Ginoza interrupts. “I'm not that powerful.” 

“I know you hate doing this,” Akane says. “You really don't have to.” 

“If I don't, Kougami will do something stupid,” Ginoza says. But he offers Kougami a wry smile. “If I have the ability to help, shouldn't I?” 

Kougami smiles back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize there was foreshadowing in this chapter until I got further along in the story and now that I've read it back to edit it I'm like, hey, how convenient. Anyway, enjoy!

They gather what they need and head to the location of the most recent murder, across the city. 

“There might still be some police presence there,” Akane says. 

“I'll take care of it if there is,” Kougami says. 

“What does that mean?” 

“Don't worry.” 

When they arrive and head for the passage-way between two buildings, there is an officer there. Kougami walks up to him while Ginoza and Akane hover behind. 

“He's going to distract him?” Ginoza asks. 

“I don't know,” Akane says. 

Kougami laughs at something the officer says, and then he raises a hand and taps the officer on the forehead. The officer falls forward, and Akane and Ginoza rush towards Kougami. 

“It's okay,” Kougami says, settling the officer against the wall of the nearest building. “He's just asleep.” 

“I could've talked to him,” Akane points out. 

“And said what? We don't even know how long this will take,” Kougami says. “Anyway...” He heads towards the crime scene, still blocked off with caution tape. The other two follow. 

He pauses a few feet away from where the area has been marked off. He can feel a heavy presence, something horrible that seems to want to squeeze the life out of him. Cold, and twisted. 

“Here,” he says. 

Ginoza pours a salt circle around Kougami, and they switch places. Kougami stands next to Akane while Ginoza sits in the middle of the circle and shudders. 

“You probably don't even have to be sensitive to magic to know something terrible happened here,” Kougami says. 

Akane lowers herself to sit, and Kougami follows her example. They're both as close to Ginoza as they can manage without actually being inside the salt circle. 

“Okay,” Ginoza says. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “Don't let me leave the circle.” 

For a moment he's still, save for his left hand, tracing symbols on the ground over and over. And then his body jerks, he hunches over and starts to shake. His hands ball into fists. 

Kougami wants to call his name, opens his mouth, but Akane touches his arm. Not yet. 

Ginoza raises his head. His hair covers his eyes completely, and there's blood dripping from his nose, over his mouth and down his chin, like something out of a horror film. His mouth moves like he's trying to say something but can't. Or won't. 

“It's not him,” Akane murmurs. Kougami glances at her. She's staring at Ginoza, her eyes wide. 

“How long,” Kougami asks, “should it take to get what we need?” 

“I don't know,” Akane admits. She sounds worried. “I don't want to try talking to him.” 

But Kougami doesn't know what else to do. He just wants this horror-film-like process to be over. “Gino?” 

“Wh—wh—y,” Ginoza stutters. 

“Gino,” Kougami repeats. “Are you okay?” 

Ginoza jerks his head towards Kougami, but it's impossible to tell whether he can actually see anything. “Why?” he growls, and it sends a shiver through Kougami. 

“It's not him,” Akane repeats, an edge to her voice. 

“Why what?” Kougami asks. He starts to feel what Akane must have felt since the beginning, that this is wrong. That Ginoza is wrong. 

“Why,” Ginoza snarls. “Why. Why? Why?” His voice rises in pitch, until it's a ragged scream. “Why? Why? Why! Why!” 

Kougami jerks forward. Akane grabs his arm, holding him back. “You can't interfere.” 

“He's--” 

Abruptly, Ginoza lurches forward and falls silent mid-scream. Kougami and Akane don't dare to move. They wait. 

With a sharp inhale, Ginoza sits up. And almost immediately slumps over against, bringing his hands to his face and breathing hard. 

“Are you done?” Akane asks, softly. 

Not moving his hands, Ginoza nods. 

Kougami moves forward, breaking the salt circle and kneeling at Ginoza's side, placing one hand on his back and trying to get him to move his hands. “Gino? Look at me, Gino. Are you okay?” 

He manages to pull Ginoza's hands down. There's blood all over the lower half of Ginoza's face, some still wet, some starting to dry and turn rust-red, all of it in stark contrast to his paper-white skin. 

Kougami glances down at Ginoza's hands and sighs. There's blood welling up from his palms where his nails broke the skin. 

“We need to get you home,” he says after a moment. 

“Pen,” Ginoza rasps. 

Akane hesitates, then fishes out a pen and notepad from her jacket. She hands them off to Kougami, who gives them to Ginoza, who starts writing. Kougami watches as he gets the words down on paper, his writing unusually messy, his hand shaking until finally he can't seem to write anymore, and the works trail off into dashes of ink. Kougami gently takes the pen and notepad and gives them to Akane, who starts reading what he's written. 

“Wait,” Ginoza says, reaching out. Akane stares at him, and he adds, “You need to see his face.” 

Akane takes his hand and closes her eyes. A moment later, she opens them, her expression grim, and lets go. “Thank you.” 

“You have a face?” Kougami asks. 

Akane nods. “We can talk about that later.” Kougami starts to protest, but she adds, “You need to take him home.” 

Kougami sighs, knowing she's right. As much as he wants to see Makishima's face and to go after him, he remembers what Ginoza said about not rushing in blindly. He takes Ginoza by the arm and pulls him up, and it bothers him, how Ginoza sways when they stand and almost falls over. 

He leads Ginoza to the car, deposits him in the passenger seat, and gets in the driver's seat. And then he starts for Ginoza's apartment. 

He thinks about how many silent drives they've had before. Ginoza, slumped in the passenger seat. Usually after performing some spell. Somehow this has become the pattern of their relationship. It almost makes him feel guilty. 

Almost. 

It's for a good reason, he thinks. Even Ginoza, who doesn't like any of this, recognizes that. 

As they drive, Kougami lights a cigarette and cracks open the window. Ginoza glances his way, briefly, and then turns back to look out the window. The smoke streams out of the car and disappears, and then they're pulling into a parking space and the cigarette is spent, nothing but ashes. 

Kougami helps Ginoza up to his apartment, unlocks the door for him so that he doesn't get blood on his keys, and leads him straight to the bathroom. Dime whines when they walk in the door and follows them. He probably doesn't like the smell of blood. 

They sit on the edge of the bathtub and Kougami turns on the water. He finds a cloth, wets it, and starts trying to get the blood off Ginoza's hands. It's dried by now, and oddly stubborn in the way it clings to Ginoza's skin. When he's done, the towel is dark red, and the bathroom smells faintly metallic. 

He raises the washcloth to Ginoza's cheek, but Ginoza takes it from him and cleans his face with shaky movements. Kougami watches, and feels empty. His hands twitch. He wants to be doing this, because so far, he feels like he hasn't really done anything. 

“I'll make tea,” he says after a moment. Ginoza doesn't respond, just scrubs hard at the dried blood on his cheek. 

He makes his way into the kitchen, finds honey lemon tea and some mugs and an electric kettle and gets to work. 

He doesn't really want tea, but he makes two cups anyway and carries them both to the bathroom. The bloody cloth is limp in Ginoza's lap and he's staring at it. Kougami sets his cup on the sink and takes the cloth, trading it for tea. He tosses the cloth in the bathtub, out of sight for now. 

“Thanks,” Ginoza mutters. He raises the cup to his lips, takes a sip. Then another. Then he shoves the cup towards Kougami, tea sloshing over the edge and stinging Kougami's hands. 

“Wha-” 

Ginoza drops from the bathtub, in front of the toilet, flings up the seat and retches, vomit splashing into the water. The sound makes Kougami's chest tighten, and he hesitates for a moment, unsure what to do, before putting the cup on the floor and moving over so that he can rub circles into Ginoza's back. 

Ginoza retches painfully until there's nothing left to bring up. Kougami dumps out his own cup of tea, replacing it for water, which Ginoza uses to rinse out his mouth before flushing the toilet and sitting back, bracing himself against the bathtub. Kougami moves to sit on the floor across from him, because he wants to see Ginoza's face. He wants to know if he's okay. 

Ginoza looks ill, but when he sees Kougami the corners of his lips twitch upwards. 

“What?” Kougami asks. 

“Your tea is awful,” Ginoza says. 

Kougami's jaw drops, and he struggles to get words out. 

But then Ginoza adds, “Thanks.” 

“I'm glad you're talking again,” Kougami mutters. 

“Being possessed by someone else isn't exactly fun,” Ginoza says, and his voice is ragged.

“What--” Kougami isn't sure what he's asking. What was it like? What did he see? What did he feel? 

“It worked,” Ginoza says, pushing himself off the ground and heading out of the bathroom. 

“Wait-” Kougami scrambles to follow him. 

Ginoza turns, hand on the door to his bedroom. “I need to sleep.” 

“I'll stay with you.” 

Ginoza frowns at him. “Don't you want to find Makishima? You have everything you need now.” 

Kougami knows what he's thinking: so now you don't need me. He shakes his head. “You're the one who told me I can't go rushing into things.” 

“I didn't think you'd listen.” 

“You've done a lot for us,” Kougami says. “I'll stay. Make sure you're okay.” 

“I'm not going to be interesting company,” Ginoza says. 

“I'll read.” 

Ginoza sighs and turns away. “The man who possessed me...he wanted to know why he was being brought back. He didn't want to come back.” He pushes open the door and disappears inside. 

Kougami follows, watches as Ginoza collapses onto the bed, not even bothering to change his clothes. The only thing he removes are his glasses, which he sets on the bedside table. He curls in on himself. 

Kougami takes the other side of the bed, unsure of what he should be doing. He has a few books loaded onto his phone that he can read. But he wants to reach out to Ginoza. 

“I'm still cold,” Ginoza says, quietly enough that it could be coming from Kougami's imagination. Either way, Kougami turns on his side and wraps his arms around Ginoza, pulling him close, so that there's no space between their bodies. Ginoza does feel cold, even through his sweater. Kougami reaches up to run his fingers through Ginoza's hair. 

Ginoza sighs, leans further into him, like he's trying to burrow into Kougami's warmth. Kougami doesn't mind. He likes the feeling of having Ginoza next to him. He likes that Ginoza doesn't hate him for getting him involved in magic again. 

“I tried to bring my mother and father back,” Ginoza says. 

Kougami raises his head, trying to get a look at Ginoza's face. Ginoza is looking ahead, almost detached. 

“For closure?” Kougami asks. 

“No.” Ginoza takes a shuddering breath. “I know how you feel about what I can do. You think it's a good ability to have. But I tried to bring them back,” he squeezes his eyes shut, “and both times, I wasn't powerful enough. My father could bring people back for years, until something else killed them. And even when it was something as important as my own parents, I couldn't. I'm not good enough.” 

Kougami tightens his hold on Ginoza. 

“You would probably be able to bring people back,” Ginoza says, “for more than a few minutes. This ability is wasted on me. I wish I didn't have it, because I should be able to save people. But I can't.” 

Kougami sighs. “That's not true. You are good enough, Ginoza. You're using your abilities to help people.” 

“It's not enough!” 

“It is enough.” Kougami's chest tightens. “You have to know it is enough.” 

For a moment, Ginoza doesn't speak. Then he says, “Kougami. Promise me that you won't do anything dangerous when you confront Makishima.” 

“What?” 

“I can't bring you back if you die,” Ginoza says, his voice cracking. “I don't think I can deal with not being able to bring you back if you do something stupid.” 

Kougami swallows. He wants to tell Ginoza that he won't do anything risky. That he'll deal with Makishima in a rational manner. But he knows himself. He knows that he's always taken risks. 

“I can't.” 

He hears Ginoza's sharp intake of breath. Ginoza shifts and turns to face him, and it's clear that he's angry. 

“Why not?” 

“That's not who I am.” He cups Ginoza's cheek, like Ginoza had done to him a few nights ago. It doesn't erase the anger. “But I'll try not to die.” 

“That's not good enough.” 

“It might not happen,” Kougami reminds him, but he can see in Ginoza's eyes that Ginoza is expecting the worst. “Everything might turn out fine.” 

Ginoza laughs. “Even Akane is not that much of an optimist.” 

“Ginoza-” 

“If you hadn't gotten me involved in this, I wouldn't have to lose you,” Ginoza says. 

“I'm not sorry,” Kougami says. 

They stare at each other for a second. Neither wanting to admit defeat to a challenge that neither really knew existed until this moment. 

Taking himself by surprise, Kougami relents first, pressing his lips to Ginoza's, and then pulling away. 

Ginoza's eyes are wide. There's still a hint of anger there, but it's been replaced by astonishment. 

“I don't understand,” he says, blinking. 

Kougami laughs. “It's not about understanding.” 

Ginoza scoffs and turns around, muttering, “I need to sleep. We're not done, Kougami.” He settles against his pillows, and against Kougami's chest. 

Kougami closes his eyes. He can smell soap in Ginoza's hair and the metallic hint of blood on his skin, and he takes it in. He can hear Ginoza's breaths becoming steady and faint. 

No, they are not done at all.


	6. Chapter 6

He wakes up feeling cold. 

When he opens his eyes he finds out why: Ginoza isn't there. Instead there's a note reading, “Went to walk Dime. Will meet you at the store if I'm not back before you leave.” 

Kougami takes the note and stands up, stretching. He feels surprisingly well-rested, and when he checks his phone, he's startled to see that he's slept through the night into the next morning. An accomplishment, considering how early they went to bed the previous evening. Ginoza at least had the excuse of having used powerful magic. Kougami isn't sure why he slept so long. 

Perhaps it's because with Ginoza, last night, he felt at home. 

He heads into the kitchen and searches for coffee. The cabinets and refrigerator are, like the rest of the apartment, well-organized. Kougami smiles to himself when he thinks about what Ginoza would say upon seeing his own messy living space. 

Organization aside, there's actually very little food, and no coffee. Kougami feels his spirits sag a little when he realizes that he'll have to leave to get his daily wake-up fix. He finds a pen and writes on the back of Ginoza's note, “Needed coffee. Meet you at the shop later.” 

He wonders how long Ginoza's been out walking Dime, anyway. 

Putting that thought aside, he makes sure that he has all of his things before heading out to his car. 

*

“Kougami, I found him.” 

Akane is hunched over a laptop when Kougami enters the shop, two coffees in hand. He gives one to her and slides into the seat next to her, peering at the screen. 

It's a list of students at one of the top universities in Tokyo. 

“His full name is Makishima Shogo,” Akane explains, “and he's a PhD student of philosophy with a concentration in philosophy and literature.” 

“What.” 

“Remember, one of his victims thought that he didn't seem like the type of person to be a murderer,” Akane says. “No wonder no one suspected him. Students don't typically kill people.” 

“He's trying to become a doctor of philosophy,” Kougami says, turning this fact over in his head, adding it to the puzzle that is Makishima. 

Akane steeples her fingers and frowns at the screen. “Here's the question—now that we know who he is, can we link him to the murders?” 

“Yes, because we saw him murder people,” Kougami says. 

Akane sighs. “No. We used spells to figure out that he was the murderer. I meant, can we do it without magic so that the police can apprehend him.” 

Kougami leans back. “Akane, what will the police do with him?” 

“I've asked Kagari and Shion to try to figure out if there's any magic users in the police force,” Akane says, and Kougami remembers Ginoza making that same suggestion a few nights ago. “If there is, then they're in a better position to handle Makishima than we are. Because even if we find him, what are we going to do?” 

The same point that Ginoza made a few nights ago. Kougami wonders for a brief second if it would make more sense that Ginoza and Akane would be each others' soulmates, rather than both being his. 

He wonders if, actually, they are and just don't know it. 

“How is Ginoza?” Akane asks. 

Kougami glares at her. 

“I didn't have to get inside your head,” Akane says. “You were practically broadcasting your thoughts about Ginoza for everyone to hear.” 

“Ignore it, then,” Kougami says. He wonders how detailed of a picture of his thoughts Akane managed to get. 

“I was worried yesterday,” Akane says. “How is he?” 

“Fine,” Kougami mutters. “He's fine.” 

Akane smiles at him. As if she's waiting for more. 

“Akane,” Kougami sighs, “what do you know?” 

“I don't know anything,” Akane says. 

Kougami frowns at her. 

Akane blushes and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Okay, I kind of accidentally got from one of your thoughts that Ginoza is your soulmate.” 

“Oh?” 

“And that you kissed.” 

“What?” 

“I'm happy for you,” Akane adds. “Also, you really do tend to think about these things really loudly.” 

This time it's Kougami who has to fight to keep his cheeks from turning red. 

Akane's smile widens and then she turns to her laptop and says, “Let's see if Kagari or Shion found anything. And let's see what else we can find out about Makishima.” 

Kougami nods, grateful to move on to something else. And they manage to get pretty far. From his name and university they find an address for his apartment, records of books he's taken out from the library, a few online profiles infrequently used, and even a bank account. 

Hours pass before they both stop thinking about Makishima long enough to realize that Ginoza still hasn't shown up to the shop. 

“Maybe he thought it would be better to rest,” Akane says. “He was tired.” 

“Maybe,” Kougami agrees. 

Which would make sense. Kougami doesn't want to seen strange by calling him, or going around his apartment to check if he's okay. But he does send a text message, which doesn't get responded to even by the time he's gone to his own apartment. 

And Kougami thinks, fine, he'll show up tomorrow. Ginoza isn't the easiest person to communicate with, anyway. 

But Ginoza doesn't turn up the next day, either, and Kougami feels like he's about to start crawling out of his skin. Not only because Ginoza hasn't shown up when he said he would, but because they have information on Makishima and are sitting on it instead of confronting him. 

And Shion and Kagari seem to be taking forever to find out what Akane asked of them. 

“You can't rush this information,” Akane points out. “They also have jobs, and they're trying not to let anyone find out what they're doing. They have to be careful. Especially because if Makishima becomes aware of them, they'll be in danger.” 

“Why can't we just take Kagari with us?” Kougami asks. “He's technically part of the police.” 

“No he isn't,” Akane says. “He works at the morgue. He doesn't even perform autopsies. He just looks after the administrative stuff.” 

“He knows the police,” Kougami says. “That's good enough.” 

“It really isn't.”

So they continue to sit on the information. Or rather, they continue to comb over the information and wonder if any of it actually connects to the murders in a way that doesn't involve magic. And Kougami continues to wonder where Ginoza is, because wondering about that is easier than being annoyed about Makishima. 

Akane's reassurances that Ginoza probably needs more rest aren't good enough. By the end of the second day, Kougami finds himself wondering if he did something wrong. 

If this has to do with the promise he couldn't make. If Ginoza is still angry, and that's why he left the apartment before Kougami woke up, hoping he'd leave so they wouldn't have to talk. 

If he regrets what they've become to each other, whatever that is. If he's thought better of it. 

And they aren't finding a way to implicate Makishima. It feels like everything has come to a standstill, and they're just waiting. Kougami hates waiting. 

Ginoza doesn't show up the next morning, either. Kougami calls him, and gets voicemail. 

Even Akane can't argue that things are probably fine. “Did you argue about something?” she asks. “Or maybe he got scared.” 

“Even if he was, he wouldn't avoid us with no explanation,” Kougami says. Ginoza has been scared this whole time. But he's always given them explanations, always shown up when needed. He's never just dropped everything. 

“This time was worse than the others,” Akane says. “Maybe he wants nothing to do with Makishima. He knows what Makishima can do.” 

“I don't think that's it,” Kougami says. From his conversations with Ginoza, he never got the impression that Ginoza didn't want to be there for the final confrontation with Makishima. 

But then again, maybe he's only convinced himself of that. Because Ginoza has said that he doesn't want Kougami to risk his life. He doesn't want anyone to die. That he'd rather let the police handle everything. 

Maybe Akane is right. Maybe his fear of something going wrong has made him leave. Maybe he's angry that he's been dragged in this far. 

“I'm going to his apartment,” Kougami decides at lunch. “Call me if something happens.” 

*

What Kougami finds when he reaches Ginoza's apartment doesn't make sense. 

The door isn't locked. Ginoza sits in the middle of his living room floor. The coffee table is overturned, potted plants spilled on the ground, couch cushions tossed aside, books and photographs scattered. Dime lies next to him, subdued. Ginoza runs his hand over Dime's fur, but the gesture doesn't seem to give him any comfort. 

He looks lost. 

Kougami carefully navigates the mess and sits in front of Ginoza, whose gaze shifts after a moment to focus on him. He's not wearing his glasses. Something like fear flashes across his face, but Kougami wonders if he imagined it when the next second, it's gone, replaced with what seems like relief. 

“Kougami,” Ginoza breathes. 

“I haven't seen you in days,” Kougami says. “What happened?” 

“What?” 

“This place is a mess,” Kougami says, gesturing to the living room. “And that's saying a lot, coming from me.” 

“Oh. I—I feel like I've lost something,” Ginoza says. “I don't know what it is.” 

“What?” Kougami feels uneasy, and he's not sure why. Something about this situation is wrong. Something about Ginoza is wrong. He wonders if the spell had more of an effect than he thought it would. He wonders if he should have stayed, kept a closer watch on Ginoza. “Gino, what do you mean you've lost something?” 

Ginoza looks down at his lap. 

“It's been three days,” Kougami continues, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. 

Ginoza's head snaps up, his brow furrowing. “Three? Days?” He laughs, a little nervously, and runs a hand through his hair, which is unkempt, like he's been doing this quite a lot recently. “I lost track of time. Sorry, Kougami.” 

He still seems distracted, glancing around the living room, anywhere but Kougami. His other hand still strokes Dime's fur, almost mechanically. 

“Gino,” Kougami says, leaning forward. “Look at me.” He places one hand on Ginoza's shoulder, the other on his cheek, gently turning Ginoza's face towards him so he can look Ginoza in the eye. “What's wrong?” 

He doesn't like what he sees. He can usually tell what Ginoza is thinking from his eyes, but now they're blank. Confused. Lost. He doesn't know what to do, but he knows they can't stay here. 

“We're going to the shop,” he decides. 

“The shop?” Ginoza repeats. Kougami is already standing, pulling Ginoza up with him. “K-Kougami, wait.” 

“You should take Dime with you,” Kougami says. “I have a bad feeling. You need to stay with me.”

“What?” 

“I don't think it's safe for you to be alone.” 

“Don't be ridiculous,” Ginoza says, with a breathless laugh. He runs a hand through his hair again and looks around. 

“Get some clothes,” Kougami says. “Some food for Dime. Come on.” 

Maybe it's the serious tone of Kougami's voice, but Ginoza doesn't argue. Instead he goes into his room. Kougami takes the time alone to look at the mess. He notices that Dime has followed Ginoza into the bedroom.

He has no idea what Ginoza could have been looking for. Every single thing that can be tossed aside or turned over has been. It doesn't look like the result of a search for any particular thing. It's just chaos. 

Ginoza re-emerges with a bag slung over his shoulder, Dime in tow, and heads for the kitchen. 

Kougami follows them and watches as Ginoza goes through his cabinets. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“Dime's food,” Ginoza says. 

Kougami glances around and notices a dog bowl a few feet away. On the counter above it is a bag of dog food. He grabs it, shakes it to get Ginoza's attention, and says, “here.” 

“Thank you.” Ginoza takes the bag from him and heads for the door. Again, Dime follows. 

Kougami frowns and spots Ginoza's glasses on the counter. He picks them up and heads for the door, holding them out. “Your glasses.” 

“Oh.” Ginoza takes them and looks at them like he doesn't know what they are. Then he puts them on, turns, and opens the door. 

Kougami practically rushes them to the car. He can't get out of there fast enough. 

*

“Ginoza.” 

Ginoza turns his head away from the window. Kougami can't properly look at him while driving, but he isn't going to sit this car ride in silence. Not after the way he found Ginoza. 

“What happened when you went to walk Dime the other morning?” Kougami asks. 

There's a pause. Then Ginoza murmurs, “Walk Dime...” 

“The other morning,” Kougami finishes the thought for him, frustrated because why does he have to spell things out like this, Ginoza should know what he's talking about, it was only three days ago. “You left me a note for when I woke up saying that you went to walk Dime and that you'd meet me at the shop.” 

He hears tapping. Ginoza, tapping his fingers against the window. “I never met you at the shop,” he says. 

Kougami's hands itch for a cigarette, so he fishes one out of his pack. “No, you didn't.” They stop at an intersection. He starts smoking. 

“This was three days ago,” Ginoza adds. 

“Yes,” Kougami says. They start moving again. The act of smoking is calming him down. Just. Allow his frustration to turn into concern. “What happened, Gino? Are you okay?” 

“Why wouldn't I be?” 

“Maybe the spell took more out of you than we thought it would,” Kougami suggests. “I should've stayed. I should've made sure that you were recovered.” 

“Recovered,” Ginoza repeats. “From a spell...” He trails off. 

“Are you okay?” Kougami asks, and he wants this to be the last time. 

Ginoza doesn't answer, and they pull off to the side of the road, in front of the shop. Kougami shuts off the car and turns to look at Ginoza, who has his hand, balled up into a fist, pressed against his mouth, his head bowed. 

“I,” he says after a moment, quietly enough that Kougami has to strain to hear, “don't know.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> death warning for this chapter also I'm sorry

It's like they're in the middle of some strange ritual, sitting on the floor of the shop, close together, but they aren't. They're just trying to figure out what's wrong. Admittedly, what's wrong could involve a strange ritual to fix it, but they haven't even figured out what it could be. 

“It could be a side-effect of using that much power,” Akane points out, fiddling with her phone in her lap. Still waiting for Kagari or Shion to call back. 

“What power?” Ginoza asks. 

“Raising the dead.” Akane's eyes narrow and she looks closer at him. 

“Did your dad have any of these problems?” Kougami asks. 

“We didn't exactly talk about it,” Ginoza says. “My mother wasn't happy with the risks he took.” 

“Related to magic?” 

“Related to everything.” 

Kougami watches Akane watching Ginoza and wonders if she feels the same thing he does. That something is deeply wrong, unsettling to the core. 

“What about in your necromancy book?” Kougami prompts. “Does it mention anything like that?” 

“My book,” Ginoza closes his eyes and sighs. “I was looking for my book.” 

Akane leans forward. “You lost it?”

“Okay,” Kougami says, “we can look for it later. But we're keeping you close, Gino. If the spell's messed you up like this it's not safe for you to be alone, just in case Makishima finds out about you. We need to find him first.” 

Ginoza doesn't respond to that. He just taps his fingers on the floor. 

It sparks a thought in Kougami's head. “Wait—how did you forget that you were looking for something that important?” 

Ginoza shrugs, keeps tapping. 

That's worrying. But Kougami decides, for the sake of keeping calm, to add it to the list of things that could be a result of the spell Ginoza had done before. Something that can be fixed. 

“On the bright side,” Akane says, “there's been no murders since the last one.” 

No response. 

“Nothing from Kagari and Shion,” Akane adds, glancing at her phone. 

Ginoza's tapping is worming its way deeper and deeper into Kougami's head, and he stands up. 

“We can't keep waiting,” he says. “We have to find him. In fact, we know where to find him.” 

“What are we going to do?” Akane asks, tired. Because she keeps asking and there's never an answer. 

“If we can't get the police on side, we'll have to take care of him ourselves,” Kougami says. “The only way to guarantee that he doesn't do this again is to kill him.” 

“You're not a killer, Kougami,” Akane says, standing up, and there's a sharpness to her voice. “You're not like him.” 

“What I'd be doing is stopping a murderer,” Kougami insists. “It's different.” 

“Could you really kill him?” Akane asks. 

Kougami wants to say that yes, he can, but he isn't sure. He's angry about the murders, but he isn't angry enough to kill. Ultimately, he finds himself wanting to know why. 

But either way, he wants the killing to stop. 

“We don't know that the police can't help us,” Akane continues.

“Oh, come on,” Kougami says. “If there was someone Kagari would've found them by now.” 

“We can talk to him,” Akane says. “Makishima.”

“I don't think he'll be talked around into not murdering,” Kougami says. 

“He's a philosophy student,” Akane points out. “He just might.” 

Kougami scoffs. 

“You two are not police,” Ginoza says after a moment. “Confronting him with no backup is foolish at best. You'll get yourselves killed.” 

Kougami sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “So we, what? Just let him keep doing this? Let him disregard peoples' lives just so he can show off how powerful he is?” 

“You don't have a plan,” Ginoza says. “That much is clear. You'd be risking your lives.” 

“Gino, we've already risked our lives.” 

Ginoza falls silent, glaring at the floor. 

“Maybe we're being too careful,” Akane says. Both Kougami and Ginoza stare at her. “I can get inside peoples' heads. All I need to do is walk into police headquarters and look for a hint of magic.” 

“Everyone won't be there at the same time,” Kougami points out. “You could miss someone. But I really think that there's no one who can help us in the police.” 

“At this rate I should just join the police,” Akane mutters. 

“That would take too long,” Kougami says. 

“Kougami, we're not rushing in blindly.”

“Fine. But he will keep killing. And we can stop him.” He heads for the back room to be alone, to clear his head. 

Away from Ginoza's presence, he feels himself start to relax for the first time in hours. The pervasive feeling of uneasiness from before is gone, and he isn't sure what that means. Ginoza's mental breakdown shouldn't have him feeling like that. 

Because Ginoza was fine right after the spell. He was fine, and then, very suddenly, he was not. And Kougami can't shake the feeling that this has nothing to do with that spell at all. 

After a few minutes he leaves the back room and walks past Akane and Ginoza again, mutters something about going for a walk, and is out the door before they can ask where he's going. 

He heads down the street, lighting a cigarette as he goes. There's not many people around and the sun is setting. Kougami thinks about the frustration of going back to the store and saying goodnight to Akane, how frosty the atmosphere between them will be because they're both stubborn, and bringing Ginoza home, and not being able to escape that frostiness because Ginoza agrees with Akane. 

He takes a circular route that eventually brings him back to the store just when the street lamps flicker on. Akane is typing away on her laptop and she only looks up briefly and nods when Kougami comes in. Ginoza is sitting across from her, hunched over a bunch of papers, a deep frown on his face, leaning so close to them that his nose is almost touching the pages. 

Kougami leans over his shoulder and sees that they're the notes Ginoza has written for them regarding the death experience of each of Makishima's victims. 

He nudges Ginoza, who jerks back, and says, “I'm going home.” 

“Okay.” Ginoza doesn't stop reading the notes. 

“And you're coming with me,” Kougami adds. 

“I'm what?” 

“That's why Dime's here,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza glances at his feet, where Dime is curled up, resting. Then he stands, gathering the notes into a neat pile and placing them on the counter, off to the side. 

“I'll see you tomorrow,” Kougami says to Akane, and gestures for Ginoza to follow him. 

*

“What are you doing?” 

Kougami's hand hovers over the space next to him on the bed. “Going to sleep? Are you getting in or not?” 

Ginoza gets into bed, under the covers, uncertainty in his movements. He lies on the pillow and faces Kougami. They haven't really spoken all evening. Kougami isn't sure how he'll sleep not knowing how to fix whatever is wrong. 

He closes his eyes. 

“Something's wrong.” 

He opens his eyes. Ginoza is still watching him. 

“What's wrong, Gino?” Kougami asks. 

“I--” He bites his lip. Then says, “Nothing. Sorry.” And closes his eyes. 

It's not nothing. But Kougami has the feeling that Ginoza is at just as much of a loss as he is. 

*

The blankets are yanked off him, and Kougami jerks awake to see Ginoza hunched over, gasping and twisting around. 

“Ginoza.”

Ginoza locks eyes with him and for a moment Kougami sees total confusion. And then the confusion turns to relief, and Ginoza rubs the back of his neck and gives Kougami a thin smile. “Sorry. I think it's morning.” 

“What happened?” 

“Nothing.” Ginoza swings his legs around and sits perched on the edge of the bed. His back is a tense line. Kougami wants to reach out and touch him, but just as he starts forward, Ginoza stands up and disappears into the bathroom. 

Kougami gets out of bed as well, finds some clothes and heads into the kitchen. Dime is standing by his food bowl, and he barks when he sees Kougami. 

Kougami stops in his tracks. He's never heard Dime bark. Then he realizes that they must have forgotten to feed Dime last night, and he hurries over and pours some food in Dime's bowl. Dime starts eating before Kougami is done, clearly starving. 

Kougami makes his way back to the bedroom, where Ginoza is half-dressed. He passes him, goes into the bathroom, closes the door behind him, and braces himself against the sink, turning the faucet on. He watches the water swirl around before running down the drain. 

It bothers him. 

He stops looking, brushes his teeth, combs his hair, and goes back into the bedroom. Ginoza isn't there. He dresses quickly and finds Ginoza in the living room, kneeling on the floor and talking to Dime. He can't hear what Ginoza is saying. He clears his throat. 

Ginoza turns around, surprised, and then stands up. “What's going on?” 

“Coffee, then shop.” 

*

Armed with coffee and pastries, Kougami enters the shop, Ginoza trailing behind, to find Akane at the counter. She smiles at them, says, “Thanks Kougami,” and turns to Ginoza and says in greeting, “Ginoza.” 

“Yes?” Ginoza says. 

Kougami turns to him. Ginoza is looking at Akane like he's trying to figure out something about her. 

“Good morning,” Akane says, but she doesn't sound happy. The smile is gone from her face. “How are you?” 

“Good.” Ginoza sounds like he's playing along, but isn't sure where the conversation is going. Kougami opens his mouth, but Akane interrupts him. 

“You look like you want to ask me something.” 

“No. I'm just...no. It's nothing.” 

“Gino,” Kougami says, moving closer to him. “What's wrong?” 

Ginoza looks between Akane and Kougami and shakes his head. “I don't—what are you talking about?” 

Akane glances at Kougami, catches his attention, and flicks her eyes in Ginoza's direction. She wants to read his mind. And ordinarily, Kougami wouldn't agree to this, but he also knows that it usually takes a lot for Akane to want to read a mind without permission. And something is seriously wrong. 

So he nods. 

Akane closes her eyes, opens them a second later, and puts a hand to her mouth. 

“Akane,” Kougami prompts. His unease is fast becoming outright dread. 

“He doesn't know who I am,” Akane says. 

Kougami takes a step back. Ginoza wasn't trying to figure out something about Akane. He was trying to figure out who she was. 

“What are you talking about?” he demands, and grabs Ginoza by the shoulders, spinning him around. Ginoza pulls away almost immediately, angry. 

“What are you doing, Kougami?” 

“Something's wrong,” Kougami says. “With you. It's not nothing. I need—come here.” Ginoza takes a step back, but Kougami grabs his arm and pulls him close, reaching out with his magic, because if Akane can't see past Ginoza's forgetting her, then his magic is the next best thing to figuring out what's going on. 

He feels the familiarity of Ginoza's presence, cool, sharp, usually bright but now dimmed somehow. And then—there, lurking just underneath, the thing causing Ginoza's own presence to flicker and fade, something dark and twisted and freezing and not Ginoza. 

But not unfamiliar. 

Kougami releases Ginoza's arm, almost pushes him away. Ginoza rubs at the place where Kougami grabbed him, demands to know what Kougami thinks he's doing, but his words fade into the background. 

Because Kougami is furious. His mind and body are lit up with anger. 

“What's wrong?” Akane asks. 

“It's Makishima,” Kougami growls. “He's cursed Ginoza, and it's hurting him. And I'm going to kill him.” 

Akane stares at him. “He what?” 

“I'm going to kill him,” Kougami repeats. “I'm done waiting around, Akane.” He turns and heads for the door, hears rapid footsteps behind him. 

“Wait! Kougami--” 

“Either you come with me or I'm going alone,” Kougami snaps, and then he's out the door, into his car. 

The passenger door opens and Ginoza gets in, glaring at him. “Don't be an idiot. Whatever you're planning to do, you'll get yourself killed.” 

“You don't even know what's going on,” Kougami says. “Makishima is making you forget.” The back door opens, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Akane get in. 

Ginoza flings his arm out and smacks the steering wheel, causing Kougami to drop his keys. “I know I don't want you to get killed doing this.” 

“He hurt you!” 

“Don't risk your life because of me,” Ginoza snaps. “That's foolish.” 

“It's not foolish,” Kougami says. “I love you.” 

“You w--” 

Kougami uses Ginoza's shock to push him away and pick up his keys. He shoves them into the ignition and starts the car. 

“Kougami, we're not prepared,” Akane says. “He could hit us before we have time to react.”

Kougami pulls the car onto the road. “You taught me a shielding spell.” 

“Ginoza doesn't know it!” 

“I'll shield him then, too.” 

“You don't know how to use the spell on more than one person,” Akane snaps. “Kougami, you can't even kill someone with the abilities you have.” 

“I'm not going to use magic for this,” Kougami growls. 

Akane falls silent in the back seat. Kougami can feel Ginoza's eyes burning into him, but he ignores it. 

Ten minutes later, they arrive at the address Akane managed to track down for Makishima's apartment. 

*

Kougami breaks down the door. Sweeps the apartment. There's no one inside. 

But one of the windows is open, leading to a fire escape that hugs the side of the building. Kougami rushes out, leans over the railing and looks down, but there's no sign of anyone on the ground. 

“The roof,” Akane says, stepping outside with him, Ginoza just behind her. 

Kougami runs up the fire escape, the other two behind him, stumbling on the steep metal steps, until finally they reach the top, climb over the edge and drop down onto the flat roof. 

There's a water tower, a few vents sticking out for air conditioning, and a man standing with his back to them several feet away, well-dressed in a waistcoat, white shirt, tailored pants, his long white hair tousled by the gentle wind. 

Kougami starts towards him, but hands hold him back. He can't tell if it's Ginoza, or Akane, or both. “Makishima!” he cries. 

Makishima turns. 

Kougami staggers back. Because Makishima's face is familiar. 

Makishima is his third soulmate. 

“It seems I didn't act quickly enough,” Makishima says. He strides forward, slowly, flicking a razor-knife open-and-closed in his right hand. 

“What did you do?” Kougami growls. 

Makishima stops a few feet away. Close enough for Kougami to punch in the face, if he's quick about it. 

“What do you mean?” 

Kougami raises his arm, but someone grabs it. Akane. 

“What did you do to Ginoza?” 

Makishima's lips twitch into a smirk. “He was starting to know too much. I don't like people interfering with my work, so I thought I'd make him forget.” 

“He's forgotten more than just you,” Akane says. 

“That's the idea,” Makishima says. “Or did you expect to confront me and walk away unscathed?” 

“Did you expect to get away with murder?” Akane shoots back. 

“I had hoped people like you would be more understanding,” Makishima says, flicking his knife open. “I'm tired of having to hide. Everyone should know the truth about us, and what follows will show the true colors of our society.” 

“By killing people?” 

“To show who has the upper hand,” Makishima closes his knife and holds it in front of him. “Such as now. I don't need this to hurt you. This is just a symbol of what I can do. Something tangible, to allow you to understand. Not that you need it, given your abilities.” He tilts his head, regarding Ginoza. “I have to say, I didn't expect a necromancer. If I had, I might have been a little more careful.” 

“You're insane,” Kougami snaps. 

“Am I?” Makishima laughs, softly. “Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to practice magic openly? The jobs you could have? How you could contribute to society? How people would see you if they knew?” 

Kougami clenches his jaw. He has wondered, but hearing it from Makishima sounds wrong. Because this isn't how he would have tried to find out. 

“Additionally,” Makishima continues, “I was curious about the limits of my own abilities. The first few murders were tests. As it turns out, I have a lot of power that I can use. Have you ever tested the full capabilities of your powers?” 

He hasn't, but he has been curious. He remembers wondering about Ginoza's powers. About Akane's. About how much they could do. 

About how they wouldn't, even if they could. 

“You're unwilling to understand. Which means, unfortunately, that you're standing in my way.” Makishima's eyes flash. “I'll give you a warning.” 

“A wh-” 

“Argh!” 

Makishima makes a sharp gesture and Kougami spins around just in time to see Ginoza double over, clutching his head. He staggers, almost falls, but Kougami rushes to his side and catches him. 

“Gino?” he says, pulling him close. “Can you hear me?” 

Ginoza takes several deep breaths and pulls away, slightly, tilting his head to look at Kougami. His brow furrows, a strange blankness in his eyes. 

Then he says, “Who are you?” 

Kougami lets go and Ginoza takes a few steps back, looking terribly lost. 

But the worst thing is the lack of recognition. Ginoza looks at Kougami as if he's a complete stranger, someone who doesn't belong in his life. 

“I couldn't read him,” Akane says. Kougami isn't sure who she's talking about, but he doesn't care. Her voice brings his attention to the man who hurt Ginoza. 

He spins around and charges at Makishima, driving his fist into Makishima's face. 

Makishima's head snaps back, but only for a moment. He tilts his head forward, blood dripping from his nose, down his chin, teeth bared in a feral grin. “Do you think you can win?” 

“Reverse the spell,” Kougami hisses, grabbing Makishima by his shirt and shaking him. 

Makishima laughs. “There is nothing you can do. Does it hurt, to feel so helpless?” 

“I'll kill you.” 

“That won't fix anything.” 

Kougami raises his arm again, ready to drive Makishima into the ground and beat the life out of him. He's never hated anyone more. 

His hand spasms, lets go of Makishima, and he feels sharp pain. It's enough for Makishima to jump out of reach, and Kougami sees the small knife sticking out of his palm. He yanks it out. 

“My turn,” Makishima says, raising his hand. 

Several things happen at once. Kougami pushes Akane behind him, uses his magic to block her from the spell just in case it manages to go through him, and braces himself for the pain, closing his eyes. 

He feels something like a gust of wind pass over him, cold and metallic. He opens his eyes. 

Ginoza, between them and Makishima, lunges forward, tackling Makishima and sending them both to the ground. He grabs Makishima's shirt, pulls him close, and places his other hand, open-palmed, on Makishima's chest. 

“No,” Makishima growls, throwing Ginoza off him. 

Ginoza hits the ground and rolls onto his back. That's when Kougami sees the blood. 

He moves forward without thinking and slams into Makishima before he can recover from Ginoza's attack. 

Makishima's head hits the ground, and he's pinned, but he grins up at Kougami. “There's no magic you have that can kill me.” 

“I'm not using magic,” Kougami says, and he plunges Makishima's small knife into his throat. 

“You and I would have changed the world,” Makishima hisses, before Kougami stabs him a second time. A third. Blood running over his hands. 

Makishima thrashes underneath him, but Kougami doesn't stop. He watches as Makishima's pale face turns white. His desperation to live means nothing. This world will be better off with him dead. 

Eventually, Makishima stills, and Kougami tosses the knife aside. His hands are coated in blood. It's only when Akane touches his shoulder that he stands up.

“Ginoza,” he says. His brain is still running ahead, not allowing him to process what he's just done, and he pushes past Akane to where Ginoza is curled on the ground, kneels in front of him, ignoring that there's even more blood here than where Makishima is lying, ignoring how much of it is outside of Ginoza's body. 

Ginoza looks up at him and his lips twitch. Blood runs from the corner of his mouth. 

“Gino,” Kougami says, placing his hand on Ginoza's cheek. He wishes he knew healing magic, but he doesn't. Ginoza's skin is cold. Almost freezing. 

Ginoza meets his eyes. He doesn't speak. Kougami has the feeling he can't, not with the way his breath rattles. But that isn't important. 

Because in his eyes is love, and sorrow. And recognition. 

And then his head falls to the side, and the breathing stops. 

And everything else stops, too.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Getting one more chapter in before a week-long vacation. So there probably won't be anymore updates until after Friday. But enjoy this!

They bring the bodies to the morgue, because if anyone can help them get away with murder, it's Kagari. They tell Kagari to burn Makishima's remains. 

Then there's Ginoza. 

Kougami hadn't been aware of the injuries Makishima had given him, but seeing Ginoza's body laid out on the table gives him an all too clear picture. 

Ginoza is chalk white. Deep slashes mark several parts of his body, cutting through skin and bone alike. The bone of his ribs can be seen through the slash across his chest. Organs through the one on his stomach. One of his arms is practically hanging off, which had been hard to see through the clothing. There's a slash across his throat that Kougami hadn't noticed, covered as it had been by Ginoza's blood-soaked sweater. 

How he hadn't died instantaneously, they don't know. 

Kougami can't stand to look at his body anymore, can't stand to be in the morgue, so he tells Akane that he's going to the shop to pick up Dime and then going home. 

Dime seems to know something's wrong when he arrives. He doesn't even whine for food. He follows Kougami into the car and curls up in the passenger seat. Kougami lights a cigarette with shaky hands and tries not to think about Makishima, or Ginoza's body. 

He pulls into the parking lot for his building, gets Dime out of the car, lights another cigarette and heads inside. He's not supposed to smoke inside the building, but Kougami doesn't care. He doesn't see anyone as he heads up to his floor, and he's managed to get away with it by the time he lets Dime into his apartment and shuts the door behind them. 

Dime barks, and Kougami turns around and nearly drops the cigarette. 

“I should thank you for taking care of my dog,” Ginoza says. Ginoza, who was dead, standing a few feet away, in a sweater and jeans. Pale, a thin smile on his face. 

And, as Kougami moves closer, he sees that Ginoza is not entirely solid. 

“Gino,” he says, not sure what to think. “Is this a hallucination?” 

“No,” Ginoza says. “This is a necromancer who didn't get to complete a very important spell.” 

“Huh?” Closer now, Kougami notices a scar running across Ginoza's throat. “I thought you were dead.” 

“I am,” Ginoza says, but he sounds uncertain. 

“Then how are you here?” Kougami moves forward and reaches out for Ginoza's cheek, but his hand goes through where his skin should be, and all his feels is cold air. Ginoza's smile fades. 

* 

Kougami has always been involved with the magic community in Tokyo. He's never shied away from it. He doesn't think he could. The curiosity he feels about magic wouldn't let him. 

That said, he's never been haunted before. He's heard of hauntings—ghosts haunting witches, ghosts haunting humans, demons haunting whoever they want just for the heck of it. But he's never even met a ghost. Until now. 

“You're a ghost?” he says, because he can't think of anything else to say. His emotions are going haywire. He'd been lost in grief for the past few hours, and now the source of it is in his apartment as if he never left. As if death isn't a big deal at all, just a little blip that everyone goes through before popping out the other side, right as rain. 

Ginoza sits on the couch. Kougami stares at him. 

“I think I am,” Ginoza says. “A ghost. I made a mistake, and now I'm stuck in-between the world of the living and the world of the dead. I did something foolish.” He glances up at Kougami. “I made a rash decision. One of the things I keep telling you not to do.” 

“You—hold on.” Kougami sits next to him. “I couldn't touch you. How are you sitting on my couch?” 

Ginoza looks confused. “I thought it would be more comfortable for you to have this conversation sitting.” 

“That doesn't answer my question.” 

Ginoza sighs. Kougami feels a burst of cold air past his ear. “I don't know. I'm not actually touching the couch. I'm just sort of...remembering what it's like to sit on a couch and imitating it?” 

“Isn't that uncomfortable. Holding yourself like that?” 

“No. I don't feel anything.” 

“Right.” Kougami doesn't like the way he can see through Ginoza. But equally, he doesn't like not being able to see Ginoza at all. 

Dime sits at Kougami's feet like this is all normal. And maybe it is, for Dime. Maybe Dime can't tell the difference between a ghost and a living, warm human. Or maybe Dime can't even see Ginoza. 

Ginoza looks at Dime, and Kougami catches the longing that passes across his face for an instant before he covers it up. 

“What were you trying to do?” Kougami asks. 

“I knew I wouldn't survive the injury,” Ginoza says. “Makishima's magic was strong. I was able to fight the memory spell to recognize you--” 

“But you remember everything now?” 

Ginoza shrugs. “A ghost can't lose his memories, can he?” 

“I don't know.” 

“Well, even if I wasn't practicing, I did read the book my father left behind once I got involved with you and Akane,” Ginoza says. “There's a spell where you can, essentially, make a trade. I tried to do that. My soul for his, so that I would live, and Makishima would die. But either I wasn't powerful enough, or Makishima was able to block it, or...” He swallows. “Or I really didn't want to kill him. Either way, the spell was never finished. But...enough happened that I didn't move on. My soul got tied here. I suppose that's the spell trying to salvage what it could of my failed attempt to stay alive.” 

Kougami doesn't know what to think about that. Ginoza tried to kill Makishima. But one thing is clear. “You saved me from getting hit by that spell. The one that killed you.” 

Ginoza shrugs again. 

“I killed Makishima,” Kougami adds. The words fall heavy between them. 

“You almost got killed,” Ginoza says after a moment. “If I'd been in my right mind, I would've stopped you.” 

“I don't think you could have,” Kougami says. 

“It was my fault,” Ginoza says. “I wasn't careful. I let him find me, didn't defend myself properly because I never bothered to learn how. And now you killed someone. What's going to happen, Kougami?” 

“Kagari's taking care of it,” Kougami says. He can tell Ginoza wants to say more on the subject, but he doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't want to argue. 

What he really wants to do is wrap Ginoza in his arms and hold him. Feel his presence. But he can't. 

Because Ginoza isn't entirely here. 

“What about you?” Kougami asks. “Are you gonna stay like this forever? Are you okay with this?” 

“I don't know anything about this. I don't even know how to feel. I thought I was dead, and now I'm not, and it's because of a rash decision I made. It was the only thing I could think of doing to stop Makishima.” He looks away, and Kougami can practically feel his disappointment in himself. 

“We should go to Akane,” Kougami says. “She has that huge book of spells. She knows people. And things. She can call Shion. Someone has to know what to do.” 

“Kougami,” Ginoza says. “The only thing you can do is banish me.” 

No, Kougami thinks. That isn't what's going to happen.

*

Akane is still at the morgue. 

Or rather, she left and returned, just to make sure that Kagari actually was doing what Akane told him to do with Makishima's body. And to talk to him about Ginoza—they still hadn't decided what to do with his body, and she'd checked the shop for Kougami. Kougami knows this because there are several text messages on his phone and five missed calls. 

There's something strange about being in the morgue again. It was only a few hours ago that Kougami never wanted to return. But now he's oddly calm, like he was before Ginoza's death. Like he's here to discover something, rather than to mourn. 

In a way, he is. 

Akane glances up from the paperwork she and Kagari are pouring over. When she sees Kougami, her expression turns to concern. And then, when she sees what's behind him, it becomes shock. 

“K-Kougami,” she stutters. 

“We have a situation,” Kougami says. 

Kagari looks up from the paperwork as well and actually jumps back. “Whoa! This is freaky! He's there, but he's also there.” He gestures to Ginoza's body, still laid out on the metal table. 

“Put that away!” Akane cries. 

Kougami feels something cold brush past him, and he turns to see Ginoza drifting towards his own body. His hands hover over the surface of his own broken skin, his eyes taking in every detail. He reaches out, then jerks back before he can make contact, and presses himself against the wall. Kougami watches as he sinks to the ground. 

“I can see what you mean by situation,” Kagari says. “How did that happen?” 

“Incomplete spell,” Kougami says. He can barely see the top of Ginoza's head from where he is. “Akane, he's a ghost.” 

“I can see that,” Akane says. “Kagari, put...him away.” 

“Can't yet,” Kagari says, but he grabs a white sheet from another table and marches over to the body, draping the sheet over it. He turns and smiles at Akane. “So what now?” 

“Unless you can bring back the dead,” Kougami says, “nothing.” 

“I don't know what we can do,” Akane says. “Kagari, do you know anyone who might know anyone? Because Ginoza was the only necromancer Shion knew.” 

Was. Kougami makes his way over to Ginoza and sits on the floor next to him. Ginoza's knees are pulled up, his head resting between them, and Kougami can hear him breathing, which is strange because Ginoza can't breathe. 

Reflexively, he reaches out to put a reassuring hand on Ginoza's shoulder, but his hand sinks right through him, leaving Kougami's skin cold. Ginoza shudders from the non-touch. 

“Sorry,” Kougami says, curling his hands into his shirt instead. 

“I feel sick,” Ginoza mutters between shaky breaths. 

“Slow down,” Kougami says, now actively resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. “You'll start hyperventilating.” 

Ginoza's response is a high-pitched laugh. “Does it matter? I can't breathe! I can't do anything!” 

“We should leave,” Kougami decides, because even if Ginoza doesn't have a body, he clearly still has some sort of mind, and being with his own dead body can't be good for his mental health. “Stand up.” 

Ginoza stands, Kougami with him. If Kougami could touch him, he's have his arm around Ginoza, supporting him, steering him away from the body on the table. But Ginoza sees the body on the table and even though it's covered with a sheet, he reacts violently. He staggers back, then turns and doubles over, retching. Nothing comes up, but it's clear that there's something in Ginoza that can't be here. Again, he struggles not to try to reach out, because he knows if he did, it would just make things worse, serving as another reminder to Ginoza that he's dead. 

Ginoza stops dry-retching and chokes out, “Nothing happens!” He stares at Kougami, wide-eyed, terrified and shaking, as if it's just hit him that he's not altogether here. 

Maybe it has. 

“Go outside,” Kougami says. “I'll come with you.” 

Haltingly, Ginoza makes for the door. Kougami turns to Akane and says, “I'll meet you out there,” and then follows Ginoza. 

It's night time, but the fresh air is much better than the chemical cold atmosphere of the morgue. 

Ginoza paces around, back-and-forth, and then stops in the middle of the sidewalk and turns to Kougami. “Can everyone see me?” His voice breaks. 

“I don't know,” Kougami admits. Kagari and Akane could, but they're also fellow witches. If Kougami were to guess, he'd say that people incapable of using magic wouldn't be able to see him. 

Ginoza curses under his breath and brings his hands to his face, then lowers them just as quickly. “I can't even cry,” he says. 

“Gino,” Kougami swallows, “did you know this would happen?” 

“No.” 

“You were so calm when you told me,” Kougami says. “I thought you'd come to terms with it.” 

“I hadn't really thought about it. I think I was trying not to. And then seeing the body--” 

Kougami sighs. Again, he wants to reach out, but he keeps his hands at his side. They're useless to him now. “We'll figure something out. And you'll find a way to get used to it. It's strange now but--” 

“As much as someone can get used to being dead,” Ginoza mutters. 

Kougami nods. He doesn't have any knowledge or authority on the matter. 

Akane comes out a few minutes later. Ginoza has settled a few feet away, arms wrapped around himself, clearly stuck in his own thoughts. Kougami has started smoking, and Ginoza at one point mentions that he can't even smell the smoke. 

“Shion doesn't know anyone,” Akane says, “but Kagari mentioned weird things happening in some of the other morgues around the city. Bodies being moved without anyone having moved them for any reason. It could be nothing, but it could be something. We can look into it. At any rate, we're going to,” she glances at Ginoza, “preserve the body. And maybe mend it. Kagari knows someone who's willing to repair the injuries.” 

“Wouldn't they do that anyway?” Kougami asks. 

“For cosmetic purposes,” Akane says. “Like for open-casket funerals and viewings. But not so that the person would actually be able to live if...”

“I see,” Kougami says. 

“But it's late,” Akane says. “It's been a long day. We should all get some sleep before we go diving into this.” 

Kougami should be tired, but he doesn't feel it. He looks at Ginoza, who's finally turned towards them. “Come home with me,” he says. 

“You want me to haunt you,” Ginoza says. 

Kougami runs his hand through his hair. “I wouldn't say haunt. I'd just say you're spending the night. Like you have before.” 

“This is nothing like before,” Ginoza says, cold. 

“It'll be better than spending the night alone,” Kougami insists. He's not sure whether he's talking about himself or Ginoza. 

Ginoza nods.


	9. Chapter 9

They drop Akane off at the shop because she lives above it like someone who is far too dedicated to their job, and then drive back to Kougami's apartment. Dime seems excited when they come inside, but then Ginoza reaches down to pet him, only for his hand to pass through, and Dime whines and backs away. 

Ginoza makes a choked noise. 

“He'll get used to it,” Kougami says. 

“I don't want him to have to get used to me being a ghost,” Ginoza snaps. 

“That's why Akane and I are looking for a solution,” Kougami says. “Come on. We need sleep.” 

He makes his way to his bedroom, shedding clothes along the way until he's just down to his boxers. He crawls under the covers, and Ginoza stands at the end of the bed, still fully-dressed. 

Kougami pats the space next to him. “Come on.” 

Hesitantly, Ginoza positions himself next to Kougami, on his back and on top of the covers. Because the covers would probably go right through him. 

Kougami turns towards him and asks, “Does it hurt when something goes through you?” 

“No,” Ginoza says. “It feels strange. Hurt is the wrong word. It's an unpleasant absence where something should be and it's almost tangible. It feels like a very strong sense of,” he frowns, and the next word comes out quieter, “longing.” 

“I'll try not to, then,” Kougami says. 

“You want to?” 

“Of course.” 

Ginoza closes his eyes. 

“Maybe it'll help to just think about it like a long distance relationship,” Kougami says. 

“I'm right here,” Ginoza says. 

But you're also not, Kougami thinks. He doesn't say that, because it wouldn't go over well. Instead he says, “Goodnight, Gino.” 

“Goodnight.” 

Kougami closes his eyes and even though he can't feel Ginoza's warmth, he still has the sense that he's not alone, and that's enough to lull him to sleep. 

*

The first thing Kougami sees when he wakes is Ginoza. Ginoza, lying opposite him, watching him, the longing clear. Like he wants to just reach out and touch Kougami. 

So Kougami, still half-asleep, reaches out to brush Ginoza's hair out of his face. 

The chill that he encounters instead of something solid is enough to wake him fully, and he sits up. “Sorry! I'm so sorry.” 

Ginoza has already sat up and turned away. “It's okay,” he says. “You hadn't woken up yet.” 

Kougami sighs. “Did you sleep well?” 

Ginoza shrugs. 

“Do ghosts sleep?” 

“I don't think so.” Ginoza seems to tense. “I don't know what will happen if I let go like that.” 

He sounds genuinely scared. Kougami gets out of bed and stands there for a moment, not sure what to do, what to say. Instead, he heads for the bathroom to get ready. 

When he comes out, Ginoza is still in the same place. Same position. 

He says, “I can understand if you don't want me around. This is not ideal.” 

“You think too much,” Kougami says, breezing past him. Over his shoulder he calls out, “Come on, we've gotta meet Akane.” 

Confused, Ginoza follows him out the door, and down to the car, and settles in the passenger seat. If Kougami doesn't look too hard, he can trick himself into believing Ginoza is alive. 

But he thinks that's not fair to Ginoza, who can't trick himself into believing the same thing. 

“Why did you kill Makishima?” Ginoza asks when they pull out onto the road. 

Kougami frowns. It's not the question he expected Ginoza to ask in the midst of an existential crisis as big as the one he's going through. And he also doesn't understand, because it should be obvious. “Because he hurt you.” 

Ginoza turns his head, slightly, towards him. “What?” 

“You mean a lot to me,” Kougami says, “and Makishima hurt you. It made the decision for me. Tipped me over the edge.” 

“I--” 

“I'm not sorry,” Kougami adds. 

“Why would you do that for me?” Ginoza asks, an edge of not-quite anger in his voice. Frustration, perhaps. “You're not a killer, Kougami. I'm not worth becoming a killer for.” 

Kougami's grip on the steering wheel tightens. “That's not true.” 

“Yes, you-” The rest of Ginoza's response is swallowed by the radio suddenly turning on, full-volume static filling the car, making them jump. 

They stop at an intersection and both stare at the radio, before Kougami reaches out to fiddle with the dials to turn it off. 

They spend the rest of the ride in silence. 

*

Akane has a very short list of morgues in the city. Two, to be exact. There's more, but these two are the ones where strange things have been happening. One of them is actually missing a body. 

“I hope that body isn't still dead,” Kougami says. 

They head over to the morgue with the missing body, and Akane opts to sit in the back with Ginoza. They talk in low voices as Kougami drives, Akane asking Ginoza if he's okay, and Ginoza giving her short answers, all of which suggest that he has no idea whether he's okay or not. 

This particular morgue is on the edge of the city, and it's smaller than the one Kagari works at. There's no one around when they get out of the car, and also no one around when they go inside. The door leading off to where the bodies are kept is closed, and after some hesitation Akane knocks on it. 

A moment later, the door opens a tiny bit, and one eye peers out at them. 

“Hi,” Akane says with a tiny wave. “I'm Akane. I called earlier, my friend Kagari said I could talk to you. I've brought my friend as well,” she gestures to Kougami. “Can we talk?” 

“O-okay,” the person on the other side says, and the door opens wider to reveal a young man, possibly younger than Kagari, with curly red hair covering most of his face. He looks like the sort of person who is perpetually tired, and he also looks extremely uncomfortable. “Follow me.” 

He leads them down a corridor and into what looks like a small kitchen. There's a circular table in the center of the room, and no windows, just harsh fluorescent lights that flicker every few seconds. 

The man closes the door behind them and says, “Please sit.” 

They all sit, the young man situating himself next to Akane and across the table from Kougami. 

“What's your name?” Akane prompts. 

The young man jumps a little at the sudden question. “H-Hinakawa Sho.” 

“I'm Kougami,” Kougami says. 

“Kagari told you what we wanted to talk about, right?” Akane asks. 

“Mmm-hmm,” Hinakawa says. He doesn't look any of them in the eye, and Kougami wonders why he's so nervous. Does he not like talking about things to do with magic? 

He does notice that Hinakawa keeps sending glances towards Ginoza. So he can see him. 

“So the missing body,” Akane starts, and Hinakawa interrupts. 

“I don't actually know much about that,” he says. “That was years ago. I-I just started working here last year.” 

“Okay,” Akane says. 

“But,” Hinakawa adds quickly, “I looked for the file when I got your call and...the body...it says it disappeared, but not who the body belonged to.” 

Akane and Kougami exchange looks. “And it says the body was stolen?” Akane asks. 

“Yeah,” Hinakawa says, throwing another nervous glance Ginoza's way. “Before that there were reports of bodies being moved when no one was around. R-rumors that it was h-haunted.” Again, a glance at Ginoza before quickly looking away. “But that probably wasn't true.” 

“What's your talent?” Akane asks. 

Hinakawa rubs the back of his neck. “That's why Kagari thought I could help. I'm good at using searching magic.” 

Akane smiles, and Kougami feels something like hope. Searching magic isn't rare, but Hinakawa's access to the morgue is an added bonus. It brings them closer to the thing that they're searching for. And if Hinakawa can track down the missing body... 

Another glance at Ginoza catches Kougami's attention. 

“He didn't tell me why you wanted me to find this body,” Hinakawa says. “But it has to do with him, doesn't it?” 

“Yeah,” Kougami says. “His name is Ginoza.” 

“Do you think whoever took the body can bring people back from the dead?” 

“It's possible,” Akane says. “Ideally we'd have a necromancer do it, but Ginoza was the only necromancer in the city.” Hinakawa's eyes widen and he mouths the word “necromancer” to himself. 

“And I couldn't bring people back for long,” Ginoza adds. 

“The point is, they took that body for a reason,” Kougami says. “Either the body somehow got reanimated and walked off, or someone was trying to use bodies and succeeded with this one. Not many people attempt anything with dead bodies, so it's our best shot at the moment.” 

“Okay.” Hinakawa nods. “I-uh-I'll try to help. I can't promise anything.” 

“That's fine,” Akane says. “And we can help you. We know people who know lots of other people. Also, do you think we can look at the bodies that were originally moved around, if they're still kept here? Kougami has a talent for detecting and analyzing other sources of magic, so that could tell us a lot.” 

“Y-yeah, I can check,” Hinakawa says, rising from his seat. “Follow me.” 

He leads them out of the tiny kitchen further down the corridor, and through a door leading down some stairs. And then through another door. The temperature drops, and they find themselves in the morgue, metal tables set out in the middle of the room, walls made for storing bodies. Hinakawa heads over to a desk with a computer and logs on, taking a seat. 

Kougami turns to ask Ginoza if he's okay. Ginoza has wrapped his arms around himself. 

“It's cold,” Kougami says.

Ginoza doesn't respond. He stares at the wall where the bodies are stored. And then turns towards Hinakawa, who seems to have stopped his search in favor of staring at Ginoza again. 

Hinakawa blushes once he realizes that he's been caught and says, “S-sorry. I've never seen a ghost before.” 

“It's fine,” Ginoza says. He hesitates, then walks over to Hinakawa and leans over his shoulder to look at the screen. 

“These are what I could find,” Hinakawa says. “I just need to, uh, figure out if they were buried, or cremated, or if they were kept here. Bodies are rarely kept here.” 

“If none of them are here, what do we do?” Kougami asks. 

“A cremated body would be useless anyway,” Akane says. 

“So we'd need one that's been buried,” Kougami says. 

“Kougami,” Ginoza says, “you're not going to dig up a body.” 

“Well...” 

“That is ridiculous.” 

“Gino--” 

“We don't even know if we'll need to do that yet,” Akane interrupts. “Calm down.” 

Ginoza folds his arms over his chest, makes a “tsk” sound, and returns his attention, grudgingly, back towards the computer screen. 

For some time the only sound is the clicking of Hinakawa's mouse and occasional typing. Then, he sighs and turns to the others, looking a bit intimidated by the fact that they're all standing over him, very close. 

“Um,” he says. 

“We're going to have to dig up a body, aren't we,” Akane says. 

“We are not doing that,” Ginoza protests. 

“I'll just print this,” Hinakawa mutters to himself. 

“What are you worried about?” Kougami asks. “You're not going to get in trouble with the law. Most people can't even see you.” 

The glare Ginoza sends his way makes him shiver. “You are still capable of getting in trouble, Kougami. And I'm not going to let you get arrested for grave robbing because of me.” 

“Guys,” Akane starts. 

“So what, you wanna stay dead?” Kougami asks, his voice rising. “We're trying to help you.” 

“It won't help me if you get arrested!” 

“We're not amateurs, Gino!” 

“You mean you've done this before?” Ginoza's eyes widen.

“Well, no,” Kougami says, “but you're seriously underestimating us. We're not just gonna go out there in the middle of the day with shovels shouting about how we're gonna dig up a body. And we're not stealing it--” 

“Cemeteries have guards!”

“No they don't!” 

The computer screen flickers, and Hinakawa stares at it, and then at Ginoza and Kougami. 

“This is a terrible idea,” Ginoza insists, louder than normal, “and I can't believe you,” he turns on Akane, “would actually consider this!” 

“You're a necromancer,” Kougami points out. “Surely your dad dug up a few bodies in his time.” 

Ginoza glares at him, and the computer screen flickers once again before going blue. “Do not,” he growls, “talk about my father.” 

“Stop!” Hinakawa yells. 

All three turn to stare at him. Akane notices the computer's blue screen of death. “Did that just happen now?” 

“I-I think it has to do with him,” Hinakawa says, glancing at Ginoza. 

“I can't touch anything,” Ginoza says. 

“But every time you started yelling, the computer flickered,” Hinakawa says, “and when Kougami mentioned your d-dad--” 

“Oh!” Akane's eyes light up. “That's really interesting.” 

“What is?” Ginoza asks. 

“Can you fix it?” she asks Hinakawa. 

“Probably,” Hinakawa says. “I-uh-the information you want-I printed it. I'll just--” He jumps out of his chair and practically runs out of the room. 

“Look,” Kougami says, “you scared him away.” 

“Me?” Ginoza looks tempted to punch Kougami in the face. 

Hinakawa reappears with a piece of paper in hand, which he gives to Akane. “They're in this cemetery.” 

Akane nods. “Thank you, Hinakawa.” 

“No problem.” He shifts on his feet, awkwardly, like he doesn't know what to do next. 

“If anything happens,” Kougami says, “we won't tell you. So if anyone asks, you won't know anything. None of this will get back to you.” 

“Kougami!” Ginoza hisses. 

“Okay,” Hinakawa says, but he looks uncertain. Like he might have made a terrible decision. 

“Thank you, again,” Akane says. “And I'm really sorry about these two. Let us know if you need anything!” 

“R-right.” 

As they walk out Kougami asks, “What could he possibly need from us?” 

“Banishment services?” Akane suggests. “Friends? He seems very shy.” 

“He seems like someone who doesn't want to lose their job,” Ginoza mutters. 

“So,” Kougami says once they get into the car. Akane settles in the back once again. Now that they're outside, they can see the graveyard, stones set in organized lines stretching towards the horizon. “Are we doing this?” 

“No,” Ginoza says. 

Akane glances at the sheet of paper. Then she looks at Ginoza. “I think we have to. There's no other way.” 

“You could just banish me.” 

“We're not doing that,” Kougami snaps. 

Ginoza sighs. “Fine. But if you get arrested--” 

“We won't get arrested,” Akane says with an encouraging smile. “We have magic.” 

*

After hours spent in the shop gathering materials and preparing, the three return to the cemetery after midnight. Clouds cover the moon. It's dark, and cold, and they can barely see. They park a few blocks away, and use the walk to adjust their eyesight. 

Kougami and Akane have small shovels slung over their shoulders, bags full of possible materials they might need for various types of magic, and a notebook to write their findings in. 

They reach the gate and Akane does a simple unlocking spell. She pushes it open just enough to let them through. Ginoza still hasn't grasped the idea of being able to walk through solid objects, so he waits with them until the gate is open and then follows them. 

To be fair, Kougami still hasn't really grasped the concept that Ginoza isn't solid. Even though he doesn't look solid. He tries not to think about it. 

They pick their way through the graves. It's organized in a certain way, and they know where the one they're looking for should be, so they're not stumbling around in the darkness. 

Ginoza seems on edge, tense and looking around constantly. Kougami wonders if being in a cemetery is worse than being in a morgue for a ghost. He focuses on trying not to trip over the ground beneath his feet, and the next time he glances back, Ginoza is gone. 

He spins around, trying to find him, and Akane softly calls, “Kougami?” 

“Where's Gino?” 

“He'll find us,” Akane says. “We shouldn't spend more time here than we have to.” 

Kougami nods and starts walking again. He reasons with himself that Ginoza can't be in danger because he's already dead. What else could possibly happen? It's probably why Akane doesn't feel the need to stop what they're doing to search for him. Or maybe she can sense something that Kougami can't. 

Finally, Akane stops in front of a gravestone and kneels down. There are flowers at the foot of the grave, and it looks as if it's relatively old. Grass has grown over the mound. Which means that whoever comes next will be able to tell that it was disturbed at some point. 

Akane sighs and says to Kougami, “Give me your hand.” 

Kougami does, and she draws something on his wrist using a bottle of ink that she's brought with her for this purpose. It's a rune, meant for concealing them. She does the same to herself and then picks up her shovel. 

“I'm sorry,” she says, and plunges it into the dirt. 

Kougami starts digging with her. He catches sight of the name on the gravestone: Shimizu Maki. He also notes the age—she was twenty when she died. He shudders. Cemeteries in general are difficult places to be in, and seeing such a young death makes it worse. 

They lose track of time, not talking. The shovels scraping at dirt fill the silence. Digging is enough to distract Kougami from Ginoza's absence. Eventually, they reach the casket, and they're both standing in a hole taller than Akane. 

“Okay,” Akane says, putting her shovel aside. She pushes back her hair, sticking to her forehead, and takes a moment to catch her breath. “How do grave robbers exist? This isn't easy.” 

Kougami shrugs and grabs the corner of the casket, manages to lift the top and push it a few inches to the side. 

“Do you want it all off?” Akane asks. 

“Yeah.” 

She helps him get the rest off, and they prop it up against the wall of the hole they've made. They're left staring at a decayed body that is more skeleton than anything. The only defining features are the stringy brown hair still somewhat attached to the head, and the red dress covering a good portion of the body. 

Kougami kneels as close to the torso as he can and gets ready to do his work. And then he hears a sharp intake of breath from above. 

He and Akane look up to see Ginoza kneeling at the edge of the hole, looking down at them. 

“Where have you been?” Kougami asks. 

“You're not taking her out, are you?” Ginoza asks. 

“No,” Kougami says, returning his attention to the body. He doesn't want to touch it, so he hovers his hands over the torso, closes his eyes, and concentrates. 

He feels a tug in his chest, his blood feels energized, and even though his eyes are closed he can see remnants of magic below his fingertips, glowing silver like some sort of strange light. He focuses on the silver remnants and feels something warm, full of emotion. Full of longing, and guilt, and hope that this will work. And there's something strange, too, about the magic. It feels less solid. It feels like Ginoza looks, and Kougami isn't sure if that makes any sense. 

He opens his eyes and climbs out of the hole, past Ginoza, who's looking at him searchingly, and rummages through his bag for the notebook. He fishes it out and starts writing his impressions, and then his first conclusions. When he's done, he jumps back into the hole and helps Akane cover the body. 

“Good?” Akane asks. 

“As good as we're going to get,” Kougami tells her. 

They climb out of the hole and start covering it with dirt. This process is a lot faster than digging was, which is fortunate, because the sound of birds waking up just before dawn starts to fill the area. There's just a hint of light on the horizon. 

The hole completely covered, they grab their things and, in silence, make their way back to the gate. They slip out without anyone seeing them, Akane re-locks the gate, and they head back to the car. 

It's silent up until they're driving away and Kougami remembers Ginoza's odd disappearance when they first arrived. “Where did you go?” he asks. 

Ginoza closes his eyes. “I went to see my father.”


	10. Chapter 10

“What I think,” Kougami says, looking at the notebook page he'd written on, “is that whoever cast this magic was young, was male, the magic was an attempt at re-animating the body, and...” He glances up at Akane. “Well, the feeling I get from this is that it's not as strong as most magic. Well, strong is the wrong word. It's not as present.” 

“What do you mean?” Akane asks. They're both nursing cups of coffee and sitting in the store, waiting for a time when they can justify opening (if they're even opening today) because it's still too early. They haven't slept, and they're both hoping that the coffee will keep them awake for the rest of the day. 

Ginoza watches them. He still seems subdued from their graveyard visit. After he'd told Kougami what he'd been doing when he'd disappeared, he'd said, “I don't want to talk about it.” Which resulted in a rather awkward car ride back to the store, because they could all feel that Kougami really, really wanted to talk about it. 

He was planning on having that conversation later. 

Now, however, there's more pressing matters to discuss. Kougami takes a deep breath and says, “I think the person who attempted this magic, this young man, was dead when he cast it.” 

Akane and Ginoza stare at him. 

“What.” Ginoza shakes his head. “I can't do magic. How can someone who's dead interact with the living world like that?” 

“That's not necessarily true,” Akane says, and this time Kougami and Ginoza turn to stare at her. 

“What are you talking about?” Ginoza asks, an edge of frustration to his words. “You both know I can't interact with anything here. I've been trying. I can pretend, at best, but that isn't...” He looks away. 

“Hinakawa's computer,” Akane says. 

“What?” Kougami asks. Ginoza blinks at her. 

“When you got upset,” Akane explains, “Hinakawa's computer broke.” 

For a moment, something like hope flits across Ginoza's face. Then he shakes his head and mutters, “It's nothing. Even if the two were related, it means nothing. It's just a fluke.” 

“Maybe that means you'll be able to interact with other things,” Kougami says. He looks openly hopeful. 

Akane smiles. “Maybe.” 

“Don't be ridiculous,” Ginoza snaps. “I'm dead.” 

Kougami sighs. “Look, we're all tired--” 

“I can't be tired,” Ginoza says. 

“-and we should probably rest. Akane, that means you, too.” 

Akane gives him a sheepish smile. “Okay. I can't promise it'll be all day.” 

“I'm gonna head home.” Kougami turns to Ginoza. “Are you coming?” 

Ginoza nods, and Kougami leads him outside to the car. He gets in, and Kougami wonders as they start driving just how much effort Ginoza is actively putting into appearing human. And if he is putting in a lot of effort, who it's for. 

“You disappeared before,” Kougami says. He lights a cigarette and opens the window to flick the ash away. 

“You shouldn't smoke,” Ginoza responds, not looking at him. 

“It's not like you can smell it.” 

“That's not what I meant.” 

“No, I guess not.” Kougami takes a long drag anyway, because it gives him something to do other than worry about the silence, or try to fill it with words that might make Ginoza close off to him. 

After a few minutes they pull into the apartment parking lot and head to Kougami's floor. Once inside his apartment, Ginoza sits on the couch and Kougami wonders whether he should go to bed or not. 

Instead, he sits next to Ginoza, close enough that he can pretend that he can feel some of Ginoza's body heat, if Ginoza had a body. But he doesn't, so Kougami has to content himself with observing Ginoza's movements. Ginoza glances down and away from Kougami, and his hands clench together in his lap. 

“Gino,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza sighs. “I was visiting my father.” 

“You talked to him?” 

Ginoza gives Kougami a sharp look. “No, he's moved on. Nothing keeping him here.” He sounds bitter about it. “I went to his grave. I hadn't been in a while.” 

“What made you go this time?” Kougami asks. 

“I...” Ginoza bites his lower lip. “I thought I might be able to see him. He was like me, and he was more involved, so I thought maybe...I hadn't seen him in a long time when he died. I didn't even know if I wanted to see him, but I felt like I had to. And he wasn't there.” 

Kougami's arm twitches; he wants to pull Ginoza close. But he can only sit there with his hands resting in his lap, like Ginoza is some sort of stranger that he can't bring himself to touch. “I'm sorry,” he says. 

“It probably would have ended badly,” Ginoza says with a small laugh. 

“Maybe not,” Kougami says. He hates that Ginoza is upset, not just about his father having already moved on, but also about the hope Akane has for him being able to touch things. And it makes him wonder. He almost doesn't want to ask, but he's always confronted things head-on because it's easier in a way, and this isn't an exception. “Gino, what do you want?” 

Ginoza looks at him, frowns. “I don't understand.” 

“Do you...” Kougami swallows and prepares himself. “Do you want to move on?” 

Ginoza's eyes widen, his lips part and he exhales, hard, but Kougami doesn't feel it even though he should. Whatever he wants to say doesn't come out. He tries again, and manages, “Do you want me to?” 

This time it's Kougami who's left speechless. His hands twitch and he only just manages to restrain himself. “Why would you ask that?” he says after a moment. 

“Why would you, if you didn't want me to leave?” Ginoza asks. 

“Because I want you to be happy,” Kougami says. “I don't want you to leave, but if this is difficult for you, or if you'd rather just complete the process...I mean, you don't seem to believe anything's going to change.” 

Ginoza sets his mouth in a thin, grim line. “No, I don't,” he says. “Getting my hopes up for anything like that is foolish.” 

“Why is it foolish?” Kougami asks. “There are people who can do incredibly powerful things. Scary things—you've seen them—but powerful things. Like the guy we're after. How do you know there's nothing that can help you?” 

“I'm looking at the facts,” Ginoza says, eyes narrowed, “not speculation based on rumors. The facts I have are that there is nothing that can help me in my father's old book, which would have it if it existed, and you and Akane don't seem to know anything that can help other than banishing me. That's what I'm basing this on.” 

“Okay, but there's also a guy around who's dabbled in unconventional necromancy,” Kougami points out. “It's a fact that he exists and that he cast magic when he was dead.” 

“He might still be dead,” Ginoza says. “You don't know that he's not.” 

“But he can interact with the living world,” Kougami says. 

“No,” Ginoza says, “he can interact with a dead body.” 

“Which is solidly part of the living world even if it's not alive,” Kougami insists. “It decays here. It rots, and ends up as part of the earth. You affected Hinakawa's computer, even if it was indirectly.” 

“Akane thinks I did,” Ginoza says. “She's associating two things that happened at the same time, but she can't prove they're related.” 

“I think we all know they're related,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza gives him a hard look. “I don't think we do.” 

Kougami makes a noise of frustration and runs a hand roughly through his hair. “What's the matter with you? Why can't you just hope? We want to help you and you're shooting us down!” 

“Because I'm dead!” Ginoza shouts at him. “And nothing I've lost has ever come back!” 

Almost as soon as he says it, he turns away. Kougami sits there, mouth open, and he always has something to say but this time he doesn't, because what do you say to that? He doesn't even know if it's true or not. 

How long they stay that way, Kougami isn't sure. And the silence creeps into his thoughts and latches onto one thing. The one thing that started this argument. And it has to get out there, because Kougami has hopes, too, and he doesn't want to be having them when there's no point. 

“Ginoza,” he says, “you never answered my question.” 

Ginoza glances at him over his shoulder, looking tired. “What question?” 

“Do you want to go?” 

The tiredness becomes sadness. “No,” he says. And then, almost too quiet to hear, “but I wish I did.” 

For the second time in as many minutes, Kougami doesn't know what to say. And this time, the silence doesn't bring any answers. Ginoza keeps quiet, and Kougami absentmindedly scratches Dime behind the ears. Dime doesn't take his eyes off Ginoza. He hasn't since they got back to the apartment. 

“You should sleep,” Ginoza says some time later. 

“Yeah,” Kougami says. Maybe if he sleeps, he'll know how to handle this. 

He goes into his room, and Ginoza doesn't follow him, and he climbs under the covers and closes his eyes. And he does, surprisingly, fall asleep. 

*

The next morning Kougami wakes up with a start, for a moment unsure of the time or the place or even the situation. There's no one else in the room with him, and he pushes the covers off and strides into the living room, not even bothering to throw on a shirt or brush his teeth. 

Ginoza is sitting on the floor watching Dime sleep a good distance away, not next to or on Ginoza like he used to. There's something painfully honest about the way Dime doesn't even pretend that Ginoza is alive. 

The sight makes Kougami stop short. He can't see Ginoza's face, but he can see the way his shoulders are shaking. 

He turns and rushes into the bathroom, turns on the shower, and steps under the hot, hot water. It stings his skin. It should help. But Kougami ends up punching the wall anyway, crying out in anger. 

A few minutes later he dries off and gets dressed. He doesn't know how to solve this problem, so he thinks about how he's solved all the other problems he's had in life. And he's always solved them by doing something. 

Right now, it seems like he doesn't have a choice. Ginoza can't really do anything, but he can. 

Ginoza is in the same place Kougami left him as before, but Dime is awake now and staring warily at Ginoza from across the room. Kougami heads past both of them to the kitchen and says, “We're going back to Akane's.” 

“Okay,” Ginoza says. 

Kougami grabs a piece of bread. “And we're going to continue looking into that whole dead person casting magic thing,” he continues, because he wants Ginoza to hear this. “And we'll find him.” 

“Kougami,” Ginoza sighs. When Kougami looks at him, he sees that Ginoza doesn't understand. 

“You wouldn't still be here if you didn't think there was something in it,” Kougami says. 

“That's not why I'm here,” Ginoza says. 

“That's not the only reason why you're here,” Kougami says, grabbing his keys. “Let's go.” 

Ginoza stands, Dime's eyes following him as he crosses to the door and then, almost as if to make a point, walks through it. 

Kougami swipes a hand through his hair, frowning. When he opens the door, he finds Ginoza on the other side, arms folded across his chest and expression hard. Defiant, almost. 

“What?” Kougami asks, closing the door behind him. 

“I don't think you understand that I'm dead,” Ginoza tells him. 

“I do,” Kougami says, moving past him and down the hall. “That's why I'm trying to fix it.” 

*

“Supposing you have a talent for necromancy when you're alive,” Akane says, “does that mean you're more likely to be able to interact with the living world when you're dead?” 

Kougami taps his finger against the huge book open in front of her. Akane looks like she's been up reading it all night, and when Kougami asked if she had been, she'd just blushed and opened up to the page on the afterlife. 

“I don't think you'll find your answer in there,” he says now. “If you didn't already know that.” 

“I do,” Akane sighs. “I just...Why couldn't they put the necromancy stuff in here? It'd be so much easier.” 

“If it were possible, wouldn't people know?” Ginoza asks. 

“Not necessarily,” Akane says. “We didn't know how Makishima was doing what he did. Technically, we must all have the capability.” 

“All of us that can use magic,” Kougami says. 

“And are alive,” Ginoza adds. Kougami shoots him a dirty look, but Ginoza ignores it. 

“The question is,” Akane says, “can we assume that the dead person who cast the magic--” 

“Are you sure that wasn't a mistake?” Ginoza asks. 

“No,” Kougami says. “I know what I'm doing when reading magic.” 

“Can we assume,” Akane continues, “that the person is now alive?” 

“Well,” Kougami starts, but Ginoza cuts across him. 

“Of course not. Because that is impossible.” 

“We don't know that it's impossible,” Kougami says. “We can't rule it out.” 

“I think we can,” Ginoza argues. “It isn't even in my father's book. If it were possible, there would be a lot more necromancers walking around, don't you think? But they're all dead. Because it isn't possible.” 

“Then why are you here?” Kougami snaps. 

“I told you why,” Ginoza says. They glare at each other. 

Akane clears her throat. “Whether or not it's possible,” she says, “we still have to find this person.” 

“How?” Ginoza asks. 

Akane taps her fingers against the book. How can they find someone who is possibly dead but still attached to the living world, or someone who was dead but might be alive again? Such a person would keep to themselves, if they even existed at all. 

“We're not detectives,” she says. Then a thought occurs to her and she smiles at the other two. “Maybe we don't have to be.” 

“What are you talking about?” Kougami asks, wary of the look on Akane's face. 

Akane claps her hands together and stands up. “I'm going to have Shion start a rumor.” 

*

“What if he used another necromancer to help him cast these spells?” 

Ginoza shoots Kougami a dirty look from across the table. Akane glances between the both of them. 

“It was hard enough to find one necromancer,” she points out. “I'm not sure if this guy could've found another one.” 

“That waitress keeps looking at us,” Kougami says. Akane and Ginoza turn just as the waitress looks away. 

“Possibly because you're both talking to an empty seat,” Ginoza says, frowning. “I don't know why you thought it would be a good idea to sit around in public.” 

“Because I like this cafe,” Akane says, “and because I was tired of being in the shop. Who cares if the waitress thinks we're weird?” 

“We are weird,” Kougami says. 

Akane's phone makes a pinging sound and she pulls it out, swiping her finger across the screen. Her eyes widen, and Ginoza and Kougami lean forward. 

“There's a whole community on Twitter dedicated to magic,” Akane says, “but most of them aren't actual magic users. Anyway, it looks like Shion's rumor is getting out there. People are talking about a person who can bring themselves back to life after being a ghost. Well, most of them are asking if that's possible.” 

She hands the phone off to Kougami, who squints at the screen and reads, “'I think my ex-girlfriend might've been a ghost brought back to life. She had the deadest eyes. #reverseghost' Is this helpful?” 

“Someone is bitter,” Ginoza mutters. 

“Someone isn't taking the question seriously,” Kougami adds, scrolling through the responses. “Lots of someones.” 

“It's not helpful in the sense that it gives us answers,” Akane says, “but it might draw attention to the fact that someone is asking.” She eyes Ginoza warily. “Also, Shion's put it out there that there's a necromancer in town.” 

Ginoza stares at her. “There isn't a necromancer in town.” 

“Then what are you?” Kougami asks. 

“Dead.” 

“Stop it,” Akane says, taking her phone back. “I don't want to have to get a new phone. This one actually holds up to most magic.” 

“I'm just stating facts,” Ginoza says. 

“And the fact is, you're still here,” Kougami says. “The person we're looking for doesn't need to know if you're dead or not. That's not the point.” 

“I was reminding you,” Ginoza says. 

Akane massages her temples. “I don't think that's necessary.” She checks her phone again. “Haha. People are starting another hashtag. 'Findthenecromancer.'” 

Ginoza looks shocked. “How many people are talking about this?” 

“Well, I've only checked Twitter...” 

Kougami's phone rings this time and he picks it up. “Hello?” 

“Kou-chan!” Kagari's voice is so loud that Akane and Ginoza can hear it, and Kougami holds the phone away from his ear. “What's this about a necromancer I'm hearing on Twitter? And ghosts that can bring themselves back to life? You're still trying to find a way to get Ginoza back alive aren't you? Should I tell people about Akane-chan's store? Is that a good thing to do? You might get a bunch of people at the store. It'll be good for business, since you guys aren't open that much. I mean, what's the point of having a store if it isn't open? You should really stop getting involved in all these situations, Kou-chan, it's bad for business. And you're not police--” 

“Kagari,” Kougami interrupts. “Aren't you at work?” 

“I was bored.” 

“Kougami.” Akane looks thoughtful. “We could direct them to the store.” 

“The store is important,” Kougami says. “If the wrong person finds it--” 

“We've never worried about that before.” 

“We're also not very public. This would be exposing us to a lot of people.” 

Akane snaps her fingers. “I can make a Facebook page. Maybe it's time we put ourselves out there. Stake our claim in the magic community, instead of just being known to people who know us.” 

“You'd get a lot of people who don't know anything about actual magic,” Kagari chimes in. “Also, probably people who know a bit too much about actual magic.” 

“I think we can handle it,” Akane says. 

“You're a staff of two people,” Ginoza points out. 

“Gino-san, is that you?” Kagari asks. “Hi, Gino! How's the afterlife treating you?” 

“Kagari,” Akane says, “I'm going to ask you a favor later. So keep your phone on, okay?” 

“Got it, Akane-chan! And while we're talking favors, how about you and I go for a nice dinner somewh-” 

Kougami hangs up. “Sorry,” he says. 

“It's okay,” Akane says, standing up. “We should go back to the store. I'm anticipating a lot more customers.” 

“How do we know which ones to keep a closer eye on?” Ginoza asks. 

“Well, that's where you come in,” Akane says. “If they can see you, that's a pretty good start, don't you think?” 

“Um...” 

“Also, Ginoza-san, how do you feel about working at the store?” 

*

Akane's version of “staking a claim in the magical community,” which is to make a Facebook page for her store, goes down surprisingly well. Within a few hours the place is filled with customers, from people casually interested in the occult to people who seem to know exactly what they're looking for. The second class of people are rather intimidating, because despite working at and owning a magic shop, Kougami and Akane aren't experts in magic. 

“I mean,” Akane whispers to Ginoza while they stand at attention behind the counter, “a lot of people just fall into magic. Like Kougami and I did. We knew we had the abilities, but there wasn't really anyone to teach us. Our parents were a bit clueless. And anyone who knows a lot about it doesn't really want to publicize the fact.” 

“So what you're saying is,” Ginoza says, “most of the people who can do magic are going into it blind?” 

“No,” Akane says, but her face turns a little red. 

Kougami has been blending in with the customers, serving as both a helping hand if they need one and a spy for Akane. Ginoza has decided to stick with Akane, not wanting to be forced to interact with people who may or may not notice he's there, and all of whom will end up going right through him. 

Most of the people who come up to the counter to pay ignore Ginoza, or look at him but don't see him. There are a few who offer him some sort of greeting, and one who outright asks if Ginoza is a ghost or not. None of them really set off any alarm bells, which is unfortunate, since the whole purpose of making the shop more public is to set off alarm bells. 

After two hours Akane wonders, “do we have closing hours posted?” and sends Kougami to check. He confirms that they don't, in fact, have any closing hours, and Akane hurriedly makes a sign stating that the store closes at 7. Ginoza asks out loud how they've managed to survive running this shop if they never even talked about business hours. 

“Well, the people who know about this place, they're usually willing to spend quite a bit of money for the things we have,” Akane hedges. 

“Where do you get those things?” Ginoza asks.

“Trades.” 

“Trades,” Ginoza repeats. 

Akane nods and turns to attention to another customer, leaving Ginoza to be ignored yet again. 

Ginoza takes the opportunity to experiment with himself. He's tried running his hands through multiple objects. Paper, coins, the counter top, just to see if he could feel anything or cause anything to change. He hasn't so far. 

But he spots Kougami's cell phone resting on the shelf behind him, surrounded by jars of herbs. Ginoza hovers his hand over the device, hesitates, then decides that hesitating doesn't make sense because it's not like he'll cause any damage. 

So he puts his hand through the phone. 

The phone screen switches on, briefly, and Ginoza withdraws his hand and jumps back. Then the screen flickers several times, distorting before going black. 

Ginoza stares at it, open-mouthed. 

He must end up staring at the phone for awhile, because someone says in his ear, “What are you looking at?” He jumps and spins around to find Kougami standing right behind him. 

“I broke your phone,” he says. 

Kougami frowns. “You what?” 

“I broke your phone.” 

Kougami reaches past him (careful not to reach through him) and picks up his phone. He presses a button, and it doesn't turn on. “What did you do?” 

“I put my hand through it.” 

“Why?” 

“I've put my hand through a lot of things,” Ginoza explains, “and none of them were effected.” 

“Huh.” Kougami turns the phone over in his hand, then replaces it on the shelf. “Interesting. I'll have to take a look once the store closes.” 

“Kougami.” 

“Hmm?” 

“I might have been wrong.” 

Kougami grins, wide. He makes a motion as if he wants to clap Ginoza on the back, then thinks better of it and lets his hand drop by his side. “Might have been? You are! There's enough of you still here to work with that I'm certain we can bring you back.”


	11. Chapter 11

Kougami's thought process is a bit like this: he can get a new phone, but he can't get a new Ginoza. It's something he's willing to run with until this whole ghost issue is resolved. 

After the shop closes, the three of them share any observations they've made. Akane notes that while several people noticed Ginoza, none of them seemed particularly suspicious, powerful, or interested in necromancy based on what they were buying and the conversation they made or, in Akane's case, the small amount of mind reading that she'd done. Kougami has similar observations. 

Ginoza brings up the phone, which has been bothering him since he broke it. 

“Ah, right,” Kougami says, placing the phone on the counter. The three of them stare at it. 

“It's broken,” Akane says. “Shouldn't we check the inside?” 

“Yeah,” Kougami says, picking it up and turning it over. He stops, holding still. “Hmm, that's interesting. I feel something from you.” 

“From me?” Ginoza blinks. “I didn't cast a spell on it.” 

“I mean, it's really almost nothing,” Kougami says. “If I wasn't looking I wouldn't have noticed. Anyway.” He ducks under the counter and comes back up with a small screwdriver. “That's a good sign.” 

He cracks open the phone into two halves, revealing the intricate insides. There's a memory chip, a processing chip, and a few other bits and pieces that are hard to identify. 

“I'm not an expert in technology,” Kougami says, “but does that looked burned to you?” 

The other two lean closer. There is a distinct scorched look to both microchips and the area surrounding them. 

“Wow,” Akane says. “I think you might need a new phone.” 

“How did that happen?” Ginoza asks. 

“You put your hand through it,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza sighs. “I know that. I meant, what about me putting my hand through it damaged it that much? I didn't feel anything.” 

“It's like with Hinakawa's computer,” Akane says, tapping her chin. “There's a theory amongst some ghost hunters-” this earns a scoff from both Kougami and Ginoza “-that ghosts emit electrical frequencies. That you can detect a ghost based on this. Ghosts are mostly intangible, but they do show up to certain people and on certain devices. Sound recording is particularly good at picking them up, according to ghost hunters. Not that I've tried. And most ghost hunters aren't...well...part of this community.” 

“But they're right,” Kougami says. 

“It's a theory,” Akane says. “Which seems to be supported by Ginoza's effect on certain things. Anyway, it could also be a form of magic. Because Ginoza is still partially here as the result of a failed spell, and magic is known to have an effect on electrics. Maybe that's why.” 

Kougami sighs. “That could be also why I felt your presence in the phone. It's your magic still at work, a side-effect of the spell.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?” Ginoza asks. 

“I have no idea,” Akane says. “Either way, Kougami needs a new phone.” 

*

The next day the shop opens again, this time with definitive hours posted on the door. And again, a fair amount of people show up, and Ginoza places himself behind the counter with Akane and is very careful not to touch anything. 

“You look happier today,” Akane tells him. 

“I'm not,” Ginoza says. 

“Ever since the phone thing--” 

“I'm not going to get my hopes up simply because I broke Kougami's phone,” Ginoza says. “It's a useless thing to be able to do. I can break his phone, but I didn't even feel it.” 

“It means there's still a part of you that's here,” Akane says. 

“Or a part of my magic,” Ginoza says. “The spell I messed up. I'm the necromancer who couldn't even keep himself alive.” 

Akane bites her lip. 

“I'm not strong enough. You know, I was so worried I'd have to try and bring Kougami back to life,” Ginoza continues, and Akane turns to look at him, surprised. “Because if anyone was going to die, it would have been him. It wasn't, and I'm honestly relieved.” He gives himself a smile that looks more bitter than anything. “I'd rather me than him. But I don't know how much longer I can handle being in this in-between state. I'm not good to anyone as a ghost.” 

“Yes you are,” Akane says. “Because you're here, and you're not completely gone.” 

“It makes it harder for him to accept that I might have to go,” Ginoza says. He looks at Akane. “If we don't find a way to change this, I'll either have to stay a ghost for...forever, or someone will have to banish me.” 

Akane wants to protest, that they will find a way. But she knows Ginoza is tired of hearing it. And it wouldn't reassure him, anyway. So she says, “If that's what you want.” 

“I don't want to hold either of you two back,” Ginoza murmurs. 

Akane starts to say something, but someone else says, “Excuse me” and she and Ginoza turn around to find a young, brown-haired man staring at them. 

“Can I help you?” Akane asks. 

“Yeah,” the young man says. He points to Ginoza. “I'd like to talk about him.” 

*

It's probably bad business practice to close a store on its second day of real business in the middle of the day, but Akane and Kougami do it anyway. Ginoza stands at the counter with the young man, and when Kougami notices them, it sends a shiver up his spine how they're eyeing each other. Like they're assessing each other before a confrontation. 

After the last customer leaves, Kougami rushes over to the two of them with Akane following behind and claps his hand on the shoulder of the young man. The young man doesn't jump, but he does take a step to the side so that it would be awkward if Kougami kept his hand there. 

“I was wondering why a magic shop had suddenly become so public,” the young man says. “They usually don't, in this city. Coupling that with the rumors online, it all became intriguing enough. I knew I was walking into a trap set for me.” 

Akane and Kougami glance at each other. 

“But I didn't think it was by anyone who wanted to hurt me,” the young man continues, “or anyone that I wasn't capable of defending myself against,” Kougami bristles, “so that's why I came. And when I saw him,” he gestures to Ginoza, “I knew I had the right place.” 

“Who are you?” Kougami asks. 

“My name is Kamui Kirito,” the young man says. “Or at least, that's the name I've decided on. And you are?”

“Kougami Shinya.” Kamui reaches out to shake Kougami's hand, and Kougami makes the hand-shake brief. He shudders at how cold Kamui's skin feels. The coldness seems to linger. 

Kamui does the same with Akane after she introduces herself, and then holds his hand out to Ginoza. 

Ginoza narrows his eyes. “I can't touch you,” he says. 

“Your name?” Kamui asks. 

“Ginoza Nobuchika. But I can't touch you.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because I'm a ghost.” 

“Humor me.” 

Ginoza tenses, but offers his hand, which Kamui takes. 

Akane bites back a yelp, Kougami stares at the two of them, Ginoza's hand clasped in Kamui's. 

Ginoza's eyes are wide. “H-how?” 

Kamui drops his hand, and Ginoza pulls it against his chest. “I was dead once,” Kamui tells them. “So I can touch ghosts. You look surprised.” 

“We haven't met anyone who can touch Ginoza,” Akane says. Her eyes have lit up. “That's amazing.” 

“Most people haven't been dead before,” Kamui says. “At least, not any walking around this city.” 

“You're the one who was digging up bodies,” Kougami says. “You tried to perform a possession on one.” 

Kamui nods. “That's right. I was interested in necromancy, but I never had the talent. I got into an accident with a few friends and, because I was the only magically inclined one, and because I tried to cast a protection spell during the crash, I ended up as a ghost.” 

“Ghosts can't dig up bodies,” Ginoza says. “They can't do magic.” 

Kamui shrugs. “You're wrong about the magic. But right about the bodies. I had to enlist friends and family of my friends who'd died to help. It was difficult, because most of them couldn't see me. But there were a few that could. It became a matter of convincing them, and they each had their reasons.” 

“You were using the bodies of your friends,” Akane says. 

“It's a bit more complicated than that,” Kamui says. “All of our bodies were severely injured in the crash. Wrecked, to the point where if I'd tried to resurrect them, or my own body, it would end badly. They wouldn't live for long. So I had to look elsewhere, at recent bodies, young like my own had been and intact. But then there was the problem of necromancy. I was a ghost, and even when I was alive, I didn't have that talent. And although I looked, I couldn't find anyone who did.” 

“Because it was me,” Ginoza says, quietly. “And I wasn't practicing at the time.” 

“You really made an effort not to be found,” Kamui says. “We didn't even have a hint of anyone capable of that kind of thing. Only that the last necromancer in the city had died. We were thinking of traveling, but I wasn't sure how far from the city I could go. Everything we'd read about ghosts suggested that they can't stray too far from the site of their death. So it would've been useless. Have you tried?” 

“No,” Ginoza says. 

“That makes sense,” Kamui says. “I didn't want to, either. Just in case.” 

“What did you do?” Kougami asks. 

“Right.” Kamui looks down at his hands. “I couldn't do anything involving necromancy, but what I could do was possession. It's possible for ghosts to possess a live body, so I wondered if it would be possible for a ghost to possess a dead body. I did a few experiments. I could do magic, using the body as a sort of conductor. Finally I got it right. Not bringing the body back to life, but being able to possess it. The problem was, by using magic I opened up the body to be a conductor for other things.” 

“What other things?” Akane asks. 

“It wasn't my body,” Kamui says, “so it was the soul of the person whom it originally belonged to. I hadn't expected that. It wasn't really a necromancy, just a spell to bind me to the body. But it thinned some sort of barrier, I think. I ended up fighting with another soul.” 

Ginoza winces. 

“What happened to the other soul?” Kougami asks. “Did you kill it? Banish it?” 

“No,” Kamui says. “I negotiated with him. I'm not the only one in this body.” 

The other three stare at him, and no one really knows what to say. 

“Luckily we get along,” Kamui adds, “and both of us had our lives cut short, although he came out of it more intact than I did. So we both inhabit this body. I didn't want to steal it from him.” 

“Is it difficult?” Akane asks. 

“It's strange,” Kamui says. “This body isn't technically fully alive. It's half alive. Blood flows and things happen at the absolute minimum. Think of it as a body that's been cooled down to keep it in stasis, but that's how you are all the time. Like someone with hypothermia who never de-thawed but also hasn't died just yet.” He sighs. “Also, I have to avoid the people who knew him. It would be a shock, as much as it hurts him not to go to them.” 

He looks around at the other three, and smiles. “Of course, in order to get the spell done I needed people capable of magic who could also touch the body, which I couldn't. I can tell you how it's done.” 

“How it's done,” Ginoza repeats. 

“That's why you were looking for me,” Kamui says. “Because you wanted to do the same thing.” 

Kougami glances at Ginoza and sees the conflict playing across his face. He can't help but feel relieved. The conflict means that Ginoza's belief that there was nothing to save him is being challenged. And good, because Kougami has been arguing that he could be saved and now he feels like he actually has some ground to stand on. 

That, and he'll be able to have Ginoza back. Alive. 

“I can help you,” Kamui says, when no one else speaks. “If you have a body.” 

The mention of a body kickstarts them all. “We do have a body,” Kougami says. “We can do it now.” 

“Wait,” Ginoza says, his voice faint. 

Kougami turns to Akane. “We have a body, right?” 

“Yes,” Akane says. “Ginoza's body has been repaired and preserved.” She looks at Ginoza, frowning. “Are you okay?” Ginoza stares at the ground. 

“Then we should get started,” Kougami insists. 

“I have to call Kagari,” Akane says, still watching Ginoza. 

“Then call him.” 

After a moment, Ginoza nods, and only then does Akane reach for her phone. 

As she talks to Kagari, Ginoza raises his eyes to meet Kamui's and says, “What is the risk that I'll be banished instead of being bound to my body?” 

“I never considered it,” Kamui admits, “but I had nothing to lose.” He glances between Ginoza and Kougami. “I'm assuming you do.” 

“If I'm going to be gone, I want to be prepared,” Ginoza says. 

“No one gets to prepare for that,” Kamui says. 

“I know. But I can.” 

“It's a binding spell,” Kougami says, “and it's your own body. There shouldn't be the same complications that there were when Kamui did it.” 

“Why can we trust you?” Ginoza asks Kamui. 

“You could've turned me in for breaking all sorts of laws,” Kamui says, “but you understand why I did it. I'm thankful.” 

Akane pockets her phone and says, “Kagari can have the body ready in half an hour.” 

Kougami turns towards Ginoza. “Are you ready?” 

“Why not?” Ginoza mutters, standing up. Akane hesitates briefly, glancing at Ginoza again, before leading them out the door. 

* 

It's like the opposite of a funeral procession, all of them piled into the small car driving towards the morgue. When they arrive, Kagari grins at them and leads them down to where he keeps the bodies, the complete opposite of a priest leading a family to their loved one's grave. 

Ginoza's body has been laid out on one of the metal tables, but this time, he's fully clothed in a sweater and jeans that Akane must have instructed Kagari to put on him. He looks almost like he's sleeping, except for the grey-white pallor of his skin and his unnatural stillness. 

That, and the fact that Ginoza, as a ghost, is next to Kougami as they approach the body. Ginoza stops short of the edge of the table, his hands clenched into fists at his side. 

“Are you okay?” Kougami asks. 

“Let's get started,” Kamui says. “The sooner we do this, the better.” He takes a sharpie out of his pocket and uncaps it. 

“What's that for?” Kagari asks. He's pulled up a stool to sit and watch them, and he's perched far enough on the edge that there's a very real risk he'll tip over. 

“I have to write runes on the body,” Kamui says. 

“In sharpie?” 

“Anything'll work as long as it's visible.” Kamui takes the body's left arm and pushes the sleeve up, begins writing runes. He does the same to the right, then lifts up the sweater and writes some more on the chest. Presumably over the body's heart. The rest of them can't see exactly where he's writing, because he's blocking the view with his own body, which is probably for the best. 

The last few runes are written further up, on the body's collar bones. Then Kamui straightens up, caps his marker, and says, “Now for the binding.” 

Kagari makes a high-pitched noise in his throat. 

“Ginoza,” Kamui says, “you'll have to...lie down in the exact position of the body. And you'll have to perform the same binding as I am.” 

“Because I can do necromancy? But doesn't this work without it?” 

“It worked because I was dead,” Kamui says. “And the other person using magic was alive. We created a bridge.” 

As Ginoza moves forward, Kougami wants nothing more than to be able to squeeze his hand. He watches as Ginoza positions himself so that he and the body are barely distinguishable, just a shimmer, like seeing double of something for a moment. 

Kamui places his hands on the body, right over the heart, and closes his eyes. 

“I can't believe I'm about to watch a resurrection,” Kagari says. “This is so cool.” 

It shows how stressed Kougami and Akane are by this process that they don't say anything, and Kamui is too busy trying to make a connection with Ginoza to pay him any mind. 

The body starts jerking, like the recipient of a strange version of CPR. The table rattles and bangs against the wall, Kamui jerking forward with it, and there's a split second where it looks like the body might be glowing. 

Kagari actually stands up. 

And no one breathes. 

Kamui staggers away from the table, into the wall, and sinks to the floor. 

And the body on the table gasps, a horrible, rattling sound. And gasps again. And then coughs several times. 

“Gino!” Kougami rushes forward to help him into a sitting position. 

Ginoza hunches forward, choking on air. 

“He's forgotten how to breathe!” Kagari cries. 

Akane glances between Ginoza and Kamui, not sure which one to help. But Kamui holds a hand up, indicating he's fine. 

So Akane rushes to the other side of the table, where Ginoza is just starting to calm down. He's shaking, he still looks horrible pale, though no longer grey. She places her hand on his shoulder and frowns. 

“I can't read you,” she says. 

Kougami gives her a questioning look. 

“I couldn't read Kamui either, but I thought that was because he had two souls in one body,” Akane says. “Not because he'd resurrected a body.” 

Kamui stands up, leaning against the wall. “I'm going to go.” 

“What?” Akane starts away from the table but Kamui holds up a hand. 

“If people find out about me, it probably won't be good, will it?” He offers her a small smile. “I'm glad I could help, but I'd really rather get back to being unnoticed and haunting the people who caused my accident.” 

“Thank you,” Akane says, weakly, as Kamui turns and walks out the door. His only response is a small wave. 

“Do you think he was serious about haunting people?” Kagari asks. 

“Not important,” Kougami says. “I think I should take Gino to my apartment.” 

“You're on affectionate nicknames now,” Kagari says. “Nice.” 

“I'll stay here for a bit,” Akane says. 

Kagari grins. “I knew you'd want to spend alone time with me.” 

“I just have to make sure no one's going to ask questions about why a body has suddenly disappeared,” Akane says. “Also, I should call Hinakawa at some point...” 

Kagari pouts, but the others ignore him. 

“Can you stand?” Kougami asks Ginoza. 

Ginoza opens his mouth, then closes it, then shifts so that his legs are dangling over the table. With Kougami's support, he tries to stand, only for his knees to buckle. Kougami keeps him upright and helps him across the room. 

“Let me know how everything turns out,” Akane says as they reach the door. 

“Will do,” Kougami says, and he practically drags Ginoza outside. 

On the one hand, dragging Ginoza isn't an ideal situation. Best case scenario, Ginoza would have walked out of the morgue under his own power. But he's still getting used to his body. On the other hand, Kougami appreciates the real and solid weight of Ginoza held in his arms. He hates that Ginoza is weak, but at the same time, it gives him an excuse to touch Ginoza. To remind himself that Ginoza is actually fully present in the world with him. 

It's a familiar situation, taking Ginoza home after a spell, but it's one that Kougami didn't know would happen again. And now it is happening. He can't help but smile to himself a little before he gets into the driver's seat. 

Ginoza doesn't talk as they start driving. 

“How does it feel?” Kougami asks. 

“C-c...old,” Ginoza rasps, his voice grating. He clears his throat. 

“It must be disorienting.” 

Ginoza nods this time, finding it easier than talking. 

“Well, hopefully you'll be more used to it after you sleep for a bit,” Kougami says. “It's getting late.” 

Ginoza nods against, and leans his head against the window, closing his eyes. 

“Do you feel okay?” Kougami asks. 

Ginoza shakes his head. 

“We'll be there soon,” Kougami says, frowning. He hadn't expected Ginoza to feel great after coming back from the dead, but there's still a sting of disappointment. Because he wants Ginoza to be okay, and he wants him to be okay now. He's impatient like that. 

When they get to Kougami's apartment, and Kougami opens the door, Dime sees Ginoza and bounds up to him, which makes Kougami smile because Dime was extremely wary of Ginoza as a ghost. But he accepts Ginoza now. 

Ginoza gives Dime a shaky smile before rushing away. Concerned, Kougami follows him into the bathroom. 

Ginoza drops in front of the toilet and retches, and Kougami winces at the harshness of the sound, and the vomit that splashes into the toilet. It takes him a moment to give into the instinct that he's spent so much time trying to suppress, and he kneels down next to Ginoza and rubs his back. He cringes as he feels Ginoza spasm underneath his hands, trying to force out whatever had been left in his body when he'd died, most likely. 

When he stops, Kougami fills up a glass of water and offers it to him. Ginoza rinses out his mouth, gratefully, and then takes a careful sip. Then another. He places the cup on the sink, flushes the toilet, and stands up quickly, swaying. 

“Hey, Gino,” Kougami starts, trying to steady him, but Ginoza moves away and braces himself against the sink. He doesn't look up at the mirror, but instead grabs his sweater and pulls it off. 

It's been some time since Kougami has seen Ginoza's body. And it's shocking. Ginoza glances down at his stomach, covered in three stitched gashes that haven't yet had the chance to heal because his body was dead up until half an hour ago. His ribs and hips jut out more than they had before, another side-effect of being dead. His slowly raises his head, one hand reaching up to grasp at the other arm, where stitching fails to mask how severe the wound there had been. And then he looks in the mirror, and covers his hand with his mouth. 

Kougami guesses it's because it's easier to see the horrible wound on his upper arm, but also because it's the first time since that day in the morgue that Ginoza has seen the deep slash running across his neck. He tilts his head back, then forward again, allowing his hair to fall into his eyes, which look sunken. 

For a moment he keeps his hand over his mouth, then drops it, and turns to Kougami. Tries to say something, and it only comes out as a rasp. He swallows, winces, and tries again. 

“I want to take a shower.” 

It's barely audible, his voice is wrecked, but Kougami hears it and says, “I'll get you some pajamas or something. And a towel.” 

He leaves the room to find what he needs and sends a quick text to Akane: “Should we get him checked out by someone? Just in case???” 

Just as he finds a large shirt and boxers that he thinks Ginoza will be comfortable with Akane responds, “Is he unwell? 

Kougami texts back, “Not necessarily, but he did die for a reason.” 

Akane responds, “Good point. I'll ask around.” 

Satisfied, Kougami delivers the clothes and towel to Ginoza, who accepts them with an incline of the head before closing the door. Kougami hears the shower switch on and decides to get changed and wait for Ginoza in bed. 

Once he settles, Dime climbs in with him and if he weren't a dog, Kougami would swear that Dime seems worried. Kougami scratches Dime behind the ears and tells him that Ginoza will be fine. That he is fine, just a little shocked. That he'll pet Dime when he gets out of the shower, or tomorrow. He's just tired. 

He thinks of Ginoza's reflection in the mirror and shudders. Because Ginoza had looked horrified. 

Ginoza comes to bed some time later, slipping under the covers. Kougami feels the dip of the mattress, and he turns to face Ginoza. 

“I feel cold,” Ginoza murmurs. 

Kougami takes Ginoza's hands in his own and squeezes them. They are cold, the skin chillier than normal. Not quite as cold as the skin of a dead person, because there's still something living underneath the surface, but it's a close thing. 

“At least you feel something,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza opens his mouth, but the only thing that comes out is a small hiss of air. He closes his eyes. But he doesn't pull his hands away. 

They fall asleep like that, curled into each other, Kougami keeping Ginoza's hands warm.


	12. Chapter 12

“Would you believe there's a doctor in the city who specializes in the occult?” 

Kougami would believe that, actually, and he would also believe that without a huge amount of serious digging, they wouldn't have found him. He tells Akane that and she laughs. 

“True,” she says, “but anyway, he's willing to see Ginoza today. I think the sooner the better, so if any problems come up, we can catch them before they get too serious.” 

“Do you also have a psychologist for people who've previously spent time as ghosts?” Kougami asks, half joking. 

But the silence on the other line tells him that Akane is seriously thinking about it. 

“One thing at a time,” Kougami adds. 

An hour later Kougami and Ginoza pick up Akane at the shop, and they drive to the outskirts of town. 

Ginoza doesn't say much on the ride over, just looks out the window. Akane tries asking a few questions, but after one-word replies she falls silent, too. Kougami catches her eye in the rear-view mirror and her expression reflects his own: concern. 

They end up at a building that looks like the sort of place they shouldn't be going inside. It's made of broken windows and rusting metal, and it's large and dark. The stretch of overgrown grass in front is full of litter and what could be broken pieces of machinery. They pull over to the side of the road and get out of the car, but none of them takes the first step. 

“Who did you hear about this guy from?” Kougami asks. 

“A friend of a friend of Shion's,” Akane says, sounding uncertain. “She said he's trustworthy but...” 

“I...can go,” Ginoza says. It still sounds like it pains him to talk, and his voice is hard to hear. 

“You're not going alone,” Kougami says, squaring his shoulders. “There's three of us and one of him. I think we can manage. Let's go.” And with that, he marches towards the building. 

Ginoza sighs, glances at Akane, and then together they follow in Kougami's wake. 

The large metal door takes quite a bit of strength to force open, and once they manage it, they find themselves in a hallway with dirty floors and flickering lights. 

And there's creaking. From unidentified sources. 

“Well,” Kougami mutters. “This could be the worst decision we've ever made. Akane, do you know where to go?” 

“I just got an address,” Akane says in a low voice. 

“Might as well go all in,” Kougami says, and they make their way towards the end of the hallway. 

To the left and right there are doors. The left door is destroyed, smashed in and leading to a dark room. To the right is an intact door. When Kougami tries the handle, it's locked. 

“Which one which one,” he says. 

A sudden flare of light makes him and Akane jump. Then the light floats away, into the room with the broken door. Ginoza makes a gesture and the light rises towards the ceiling, illuminating the whole room. 

Kougami stares at him. 

“You can do magic!” Akane says, smiling. 

“I probably should've thought of that,” Kougami says. It's a simple spell, but for some reason he'd been thinking of exploring the room in the dark, possibly only using the light from his phone. 

Which would have been silly, and possibly outright dangerous, given that the floor of the room is covered in twisted metal and sharp objects that, upon closer inspection, appear to have something to do with surgery. Kougami isn't a doctor, but he's pretty sure most of the things there could really do some damage on internal organs. 

There's also a cart pushed up against the far wall, and a hospital bed, broken and on its side. 

“I mean,” Kougami says, “he is a doctor.” 

The light vanishes. All three of them turn towards the locked door. 

“I'll do it,” Kougami says. He steps forward, but just before he can complete the spell to unlock the door, Ginoza touches his arm. The meaning is clear—be careful. “Don't worry. I have a plan.” 

With a twitch of his fingers, he springs the lock and smashes his foot against the door, forcing it open hard enough that it slams into the wall on the other side. 

“I'd appreciate it if you kept the property damage to a minimum. As you've already seen, this building doesn't need any more issues.” 

Kougami blinks. The room behind the door is startlingly normal. It looks like a regular waiting room, complete with comfy chairs and a reception window and a nice, blue carpet. 

And in one of the chairs sits a middle-aged man with glasses, wearing a white lab coat. 

“Uh,” Kougami says. 

“I got a call telling me to expect visitors,” the man says, standing up. “And a patient. You could have knocked. That aside...My name is Doctor Saiga. Please come in.” 

“Right.” Kougami steps inside, allowing Ginoza and Akane in. Ginoza shoots Kougami a rather judgmental look which Kougami feels is entirely unwarranted. Akane closes the door behind them and luckily, it isn't broken. “Can we trust you?” 

“Yes,” Akane says, her eyes trained on Saiga. 

Saiga laughs. “You're a mind reader. I haven't met many.” 

“We need your help,” Kougami says. 

“Of course. Otherwise you wouldn't be here.” Saiga's sharp gaze sweeps over them, and after a moment he gestures to Ginoza and says, “You're the patient.” 

Ginoza nods 

“You look half-dead,” Saiga adds, and all three of them start. 

“Don't joke like that,” Akane says. 

“I wasn't joking,” Saiga says, and Ginoza sucks in a sharp breath. “It's very rare, but people who have been brought back from the dead have come to me before, and for good reason. It was smart of you to think about the health of the body. It is a difficult process even in the best of circumstances, and there are plenty of challenges that still exist after...resurrection.” 

“Hold on,” Kougami starts. “Did you say--” 

“Before,” Saiga says with a small smile. “As I said, it's rare, but I have examined and treated a handful of patients with this condition.” 

“So you are actually an occult doctor,” Akane says, awed. 

“I'm a doctor who happens to deal with patients involved in occult practices.” 

“That's a mouthful,” Kougami says. 

“Anyway,” Akane says, “we just wanted to make sure that there won't be any complications going forward.” 

“Oh, there will be,” Saiga says. 

“Huh?” 

“You can't bring someone back from the dead without complications. But the situation can be less complicated. So. What are your names?” 

They introduce themselves, and then Saiga asks Ginoza to follow him into a back room. 

“Can we come?” Kougami asks. 

“I'd rather have this examination conducted in private,” Saiga says. “It's easier on the patient and on myself. If the patient would like me to tell you what I find after, then I will do so. It's as with any medical examination.” 

Akane nods, and Kougami tries not to look too disappointed. Ginoza follows Saiga through another doorway, and the door closes. 

“I guess we should sit,” Akane says. And she does. 

Kougami sits next to her and notes that next to some of the chairs are tables with magazines. Normal magazines. 

“He isn't easy to find,” he says. “I wonder why he's here.” 

“He probably knows a lot,” Akane says. “Maybe he's a target to people like Makishima. I wonder...if he examined Kamui.” 

“I wonder if any of his patients were resurrected by Ginoza's father.” 

Akane frowns. “Do you think Ginoza's father resurrected a lot of people?” 

“I don't know.” 

“He doesn't talk about his father a lot, does he.” 

“Well, he also tried to stay as far away from necromancy as possible,” Kougami says. “So chances are, he might not know.” But Kougami thinks he does know. Otherwise he wouldn't be so hard on himself about not being as powerful. 

“Do you think people can get magical sicknesses?” Akane asks. 

It's not something that's ever occurred to Kougami. He thinks about what kind of magical sicknesses could exist. “Maybe he just treats magical injury. And consults on certain things. He would've been really useful when we were looking for Makishima.” 

“Yeah...” Akane sighs. “How is Ginoza?” 

“Quiet,” Kougami says. “Part of it is probably because he can't physically talk that much. But I think there's a mental side to it, too. You should've seen his face when he looked in the mirror, Akane. He looked...horrified.” 

“Maybe Saiga can help with the scars,” Akane says. “I don't know if he can also provide therapy or anything like that. We can help. You've helped him so far.”

“Yeah. But sometimes I feel like I'm out of my depth.” 

Akane smiles at him. “Maybe. But you don't let that stop you.” She looks down at her lap. “Kougami?” 

“Hmmm?” 

“That soulmate spell--” 

The door opens, and Saiga steps out. “Can you two come with me?” 

They rise and follow him through the door into the back rooms. 

As with the waiting room, the rest also resembles a normal doctor's office. Saiga leads them into a room where Ginoza sits on an examination table. There's another chair off to the side, but both Kougami and Akane elect to stand. 

“Ginoza said that he wanted me to tell you the results of my examination,” Saiga says. “So I'm going to do just that. In short, Ginoza will always feel half-dead. This is because the spell used was not, technically, a necromancy spell. It's a more crude job, but given that Ginoza's magic is bent towards necromancy, it didn't turn out as crude as it could have. Still, I think it's safe to say that Ginoza will never be 100% well.” 

Ginoza doesn't look at them as Saiga says these words. 

“His magic is mostly intact, though obvious I couldn't test it without a body to resurrect,” Saiga adds. “It could be weaker due to his body being less alive, or it could be stronger because he's closer to death. It really is hard to tell, with necromancers. The wounds are healing nicely, both internally and externally. So I wouldn't worry about that, as long as you aren't doing anything too physically strenuous that might open them again. His throat is also healing, but it might be difficult to talk for some time yet, and perhaps it's better if he doesn't to allow for more uninterrupted healing.” 

“That's everything?” Kougami asks after a moment of processing this. 

Saiga glances at Ginoza, then says. “There is a psychological aspect to all of this. Feeling a slight detachment from the body, or disgust because it feels like it isn't working properly. The scars will fade, but the feeling never will. And, of course, processing the memories of not having been alive, the moment of death, the moment of coming back...different people deal with those in different ways. The only ones who can understand are other people who've been through the same thing.” 

Ginoza takes out his cellphone and starts typing. He holds it up so that Kougami and Akane can read the text. It says, “I'll be fine.” 

“I would recommend not being alone,” Saiga says. 

“Thank you,” Kougami says. 

“Of course. And you can come to me any time you need help with the more...unusual aspects of your lives.” 

They say their goodbyes and head out to the car. Once inside, Kougami turns to Ginoza and says, “That wasn't so bad, was it?” 

Ginoza shrugs. 

“We'll go back to the shop,” he adds. “People are probably wondering why we aren't open if we just announced ourselves online. If that's okay with you?” 

Ginoza nods. 

Kougami starts the car. A thought occurs to him. “I wonder what Saiga's magical ability is.” 

Ginoza starts typing. He holds out his phone to Kougami, and then Akane, so that they can both read. “He told me he can manipulate thoughts.” 

Kougami's eyes widen. Akane laughs, nervously. “I guess that's part of the reason why he's so hard to find,” she says. “If he's ever used that against people, they must hate him.” 

More typing, and Ginoza shows them the message: “Those people are dangerous.” 

“But he was kind,” Akane says. “I didn't read any bad intentions from him. And I can sense when people are trying to access other peoples' thoughts. I didn't get that from him, so he wasn't manipulating any of us.” 

“Still,” Kougami says, pulling the car onto the road. “There are probably other people like that. We should probably strengthen our mental shields.” 

“You need to,” Akane says. 

“I plan on it. Wait—what?” 

Akane laughs, and even Ginoza cracks a small smile. 

*

Back at the shop are several disgruntled customers wondering why the posted hours on the door are inaccurate. But they seem to mostly calm down once the shop actually opens. 

For once it's a relaxing day, even if Kougami would rather be back at his apartment with Ginoza. Now that he can touch Ginoza, it's all he wants to do. But he doesn't get too hands-y in front of the customers (and even when he does, Ginoza swats his hands aside.) They're stuck communicating solely through the messages Ginoza types onto the screen of his cell phone. 

Not that he minds, because at least it's something. Since his visit to Saiga, Ginoza seems a bit more relaxed. When Kougami asks why, he types up, “because I know what's going on.” 

“You must really hate not knowing,” Kougami says. 

“My worst nightmare,” Ginoza types. 

Kougami can identify with that. He has a need for knowledge to compliment his need for action. 

They close the shop for the day and it almost feels normal, when Kougami feels a strange twinge of something in his chest. It takes him a second to recognize the feeling, and when he does, he runs for the door. 

“Kougami!” Akane cries. 

“Someone just cast a spell!” Kougami yells back at her, and then he bursts through the door. 

Outside it's dark, and there's a young woman running down the opposite side of the street. Kougami chases her, calls out, “Hey!” but she doesn't seem to notice him. And then something hits him square in the back. 

He doesn't break stride, but he does throw a look over his shoulder. Ginoza is sprinting after him, looking extremely annoyed. 

“Something's going on,” is all Kougami offers as an explanation, and then the young woman rounds a corner. 

He chases her a few blocks, and she still doesn't seem to have noticed him. So he shouts, “Wait!” as loudly as he can. 

The young woman turns, startled, but doesn't stop running forward. A huge mistake, because she crashes into a garbage can and hits the ground hard enough to not be able to spring up right away. 

Kougami reaches her and offers a hand. She scoffs, stands up, and glares at Kougami. And that's when Kougami realizes something: this person is barely a woman. She's petite, freckles dusting her face, and her glare is that of a pissed off teenager. 

Kougami is not good with teenagers. 

“What'd you do that for?” the teenager snapped, folding her arms over her chest. “It got away!”

“What got--” 

He's interrupted by a hand clamping onto his shoulder and a cellphone screen shoved in his face reading, “EXPLAIN NOW I'M GOING TO HURT YOU.” 

Kougami chuckles, and the hand on his shoulder squeezes extra-hard. “I think you forgot an 'or'.” 

The screen disappears, but the hand on his shoulder doesn't. Kougami glances at Ginoza—he does look furious, and also like he might collapse. 

“Excuse me,” the teenager cuts in. “If you screwed up my plan I hope it's for a good reason.” 

“Um,” Kougami says. He can feel Ginoza nodding emphatically behind him. “I just work nearby and saw you running and thought you might be in trouble. But also...” He pauses, and hopes this goes over well. “I felt magic. And I needed to check it out.” 

The teenager's eyes widen slightly, before she forces her expression back into something unimpressed. “So do you just meddle in everything?” 

“You seemed like you were in trouble.” 

“And what do you know about it?” 

“We're magic users,” Kougami tells her. “I'm Kougami Shinya. This is Ginoza Nobuchika.” 

The teenager wrinkles her nose. “That's great, but I'm fine on my own.” 

“What did you mean when you said it got away? What were you talking about?” 

The teenager shifts on her feet. 

“What kind of magic?” she asks, suddenly. 

“What?” 

“What kind of magic do you specialize in?” 

“Wait, I asked you first,” Kougami says, instantly feeling childish and annoyed at himself. 

“I'm Mika,” the teenager says.

“If it was you doing the magic,” Kougami says, “it was powerful. I usually don't feel it unless it's something big.” 

Mika looks away and mutters something under her breath. 

“What was that?” Kougami asks, leaning forward. 

“I was trying to render someone unconscious,” Mika says, “but the spell missed.” 

“That's rough,” Kougami says. “So who is this someone?” 

“A vampire.” 

Ginoza makes a sudden movement and a second later Kougami has a screen in his face again, reading, “Vampires exist??????” 

Kougami laughs. “I would've thought that by now you'd accept that everything you'd think would exist in a world with magic, does.” 

“Now it's your turn to answer my question,” Mika says, raising her eyebrows. But then her gaze shifts behind them, and her eyes narrow. 

“Sorry it took me so long,” Akane says from behind them, breathless. “Had to lock up. What's going on? Who's this?” 

“This is Mika,” Kougami says. “She's chasing a vampire.” 

“That's dangerous to do alone,” Akane says. “What if you run into more than one? They have their communities, you know. You seem upset that we stopped you.” 

Mika is looking at Akane like she's the worst thing in the world. Even worse than Kougami interrupting her low-speed vampire chase. 

“Why are you chasing a vampire by yourself?” Kougami asks. 

“Does it matter?” Mika says. 

“We can help,” Akane offers. 

Mika scoffs. “I have my own way of doing things. Your help isn't necessary.” 

“Having more resources at your disposal will increase your chance of success,” Kougami points out. “If it's just you, you're just increasing your chances of dying.” 

“You're acting like you have some sort of authority over me,” Mika says, “but there are no authority figures in magic. Just because you're older doesn't mean you'll do a better job. Just let me get on with what I was doing.” 

“But if there's a vampire problem in this city,” Kougami says, “we should know about it. Because they usually keep to themselves, but sometimes there's activity that makes things dangerous for everyone else. And if there's a way to stop it, that should happen as soon as possible to protect everyone. Don't you think?” 

Mika stares at him, and in horror he watches her expression fall apart from anger into sadness. Tears well up in her eyes, and then she brings her hand to her face and makes a choking sound. 

Akane steps forward, tries to embrace the girl, but Mika pulls away, shaking her head. Akane frowns, and Ginoza shows Kougami another message, saying, “You've really handled this situation.” 

“And what would you have done differently?” Kougami asks. 

“A v-vampire killed my best friend,” Mika says, suddenly, voice thick with tears. “in my school. Sucked her dry, took her from the dorms, and displayed her like a statue in front of her house. And she also went to our school. The vampire.” 

“Vampires go to school?” Ginoza texts. Kougami moves the phone and Ginoza's hand aside. 

“So you were going to kill her in retaliation?” he asks. 

“What else am I supposed to do?” 

“We can help you,” Akane says. “We know people who might have contacts in the vampire community who can tell us--” 

“I don't want to talk to any of those monsters,” Mika snarls. 

“They're not all bad,” Kougami says. Mika glares at him. 

“We can get some information and handle the danger once we have all the pieces,” Akane says. “Why don't you come back to the shop?” 

“I'd rather not.” 

“We can have tea and talk it over.” 

“You're not going to just let me go, are you?”

“No. But if it helps,” Kougami says, “we're professionals.” 

Ginoza chokes. 

Ten minutes later they're back inside the shop, all with a cup of tea except Ginoza, who settles for watching Kougami drink his. Mika looks like she's enjoying hers but desperately doesn't want to. 

The first few minutes are spent in silence, except for Akane talking to Shion on the phone? After she hangs up she says, “Do you have any training? You're really young.” 

“I'm seventeen,” Mika says. “And no. I'm self-taught, and very proficient. What is your specialty. You never said?” 

“What's yours?” Kougami asks. Mika glares at him. 

“If you want to expand your knowledge and have support in the community,” Akane says, “we can do that for you. This is a shop dedicated to the occult, after all.” 

“She even has a huge ancient spell book,” Kougami says, tapping on the counter. “Almost everything you need is in there, except necromancy.” 

Mika wrinkles her nose. “Why would I need that?” 

Ginoza looks away. 

“Anyway,” Mika continues, “I'm perfectly capable of handling this on my own.” 

“You're going in blind,” Kougami says. “In ability, sure you are. But in everything else, probably not. Even if this vampire looks your age, she's probably much older.” 

“She wasn't a vampire at the beginning of the year,” Mika mutters. 

“What!” Akane's eyes are wide. “But they're not supposed to turn people.” 

“How do you know that?” Kougami asks. 

“She wouldn't have aged in the past few years if she was, right? Anyway, I think she wanted it,” Mika says. “She was into some pretty weird stuff, but she didn't have magical ability or anything. But she kept talking about people with extraordinary abilities who made her see life in a new way. And a mentor. She kept talking about that.” 

“What's her name?” Kougami asks. 

“Oryo Rikako.” 

Akane types it into her phone. Kougami commits it to memory. 

“And what are you going to do with that?” Mika asks. 

“Find out what's what,” Akane says. “We seem to be doing a lot of that lately.”

“So, sitting around.” 

“Pretty much,” Kougami says. 

Mika glances at Ginoza. “Why doesn't he talk?” 

“Sick,” Kougami says. Ginoza frowns at him. 

Mika sighs and looks at her hands. Then, she looks up at Akane, grudgingly, and says, “So you have a book of spells?”


	13. Chapter 13

“She's so young,” Kougami says, sprawling himself on the couch and tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Children shouldn't be allowed to use magic unsupervised.” 

“They let you do magic,” Ginoza messages him. He actually has the nerve to send the message right to Kougami's phone rather than just type it up on his own phone screen and show it to Kougami like he's been doing. 

Kougami narrows his eyes at Ginoza. “That's just mean.” 

Ginoza smirks at him. And then his smirk fades into something more serious. He taps on his phone, then stops. 

“You're worried about her, aren't you,” Kougami says. Ginoza just stands there. “Come here.” 

Ginoza sighs and perches himself on the edge of the couch, just out of Kougami's reach. He types a new message: “I'm worried in general.” 

“Why's that?” 

“I just worry.” Ginoza puts the phone in his lap and sighs. 

“I guess all this stuff doesn't help,” Kougami says. “How are you feeling?” 

He almost misses the strange twist of Ginoza's mouth before he manages to force his expression back into something neutral. He picks up his phone to give an answer, but before he can Kougami says, “That bad, huh?” 

Ginoza looks away. 

“You don't have to be okay,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza's shoulders tense. Kougami shifts and moves forward, wrapping his arms around Ginoza and resting his head against Ginoza's shoulder. He can hear the slight hitch in Ginoza's breathing and closes his eyes. Ginoza is on the edge of cold, the chill creeping through Kougami's shirt into his skin. 

“I don't want to be a burden,” Ginoza rasps. Kougami feels him swallow, and holds him tighter. 

“You're not.” 

Ginoza doesn't respond. And Kougami wishes that he could make Ginoza believe him, believe that what he's saying is fact rather than something more subjective. 

“You're not,” Kougami repeats. 

Ginoza shifts and murmurs, “I didn't expect vampires.” 

Kougami bites back the urge to tell him not to change the subject. “Of course not. Who does?” 

“You did.” 

“I just knew they existed. But the ones I know of are pretty harmless.” 

Ginoza raises an eyebrow. 

“Relatively,” Kougami amends. “Akane's probably going to want to talk to them. With Mika. And us.” 

Ginoza pulls out his phone again and types out, “I'm kind of like them, I think. More dead than alive.” 

“You don't suck blood,” Kougami says, suppressing a grimace. The chill of Ginoza against him becomes more pronounced. “We should go to sleep.” 

He stands up and leads Ginoza back to the bedroom, pulls him down onto the bed. It's only when he's lying down that he remembers that he should have changed. He starts to get up, but Ginoza pulls his sleeve. 

“Stay,” he whispers. 

And Kougami does. 

*

The next morning Akane calls them to the shop bright and early. They find her there with a grumpy-looking Mika and four cups of coffee, and she explains what she wants from them. 

“I want to visit some vampires,” she says. 

“I told you,” Kougami mutters to Ginoza. 

Mika crosses her arms over her chest and looks off to the side, clearly not a fan of this idea. Akane must have noticed, but she clearly doesn't care. She leads them out to the car, offers Mika the front passenger seat, and takes the driver's seat. 

“Where are these vampires?” Kougami asks, holding onto his cup of coffee and taking large gulps. He's going to need all the energy he can get if they're really doing this. 

“Shion knows some people,” Akane says. “They share a living space on the other side of the city, but in the basement of an apartment complex. They'd usually be sleeping right now, but since this is an emergency they agreed to meet.” 

“They,” Mika repeats. “As in, more than one?” 

“Probably,” Akane says. 

To be fair to Mika, Kougami is also not sure if he likes the idea of talking to a bunch of vampires. He knows they're mostly harmless. Mostly. Clearly there are still some that like to kill humans. But most of them try to keep a low profile. 

But with the luck they've been having lately, Kougami wouldn't be surprised if something went wrong. 

They pull into a parking space a few minutes later, and head into one of the buildings. It's made of concrete, with very few windows, and as soon as they go inside they head for the stairwell and take the stairs down to the basement. 

The basement is only lit by artificial light, and it isn't so much a basement as a mirror of the hallways above ground, with doors leading off to what Kougami assumes are different apartments. There's even numbers. Akane stops in front of a door with the number 009 and knocks a few times. 

The door opens, and a pale woman with long black hair answers. She's in a lovely set of blue pajamas, long-sleeved, but she looks mostly awake. And mostly normal, except for the pallor of her skin. 

“Hi,” Akane says. “Shion said I'd be coming over. I'm Akane, and these are--” 

“Come in,” the woman says, standing aside. “We don't need to talk in the hallway.” 

She leads them into the apartment, which is clean and decorated with posters from various bands. There's two guitars resting against one of the walls, and a small television. She heads towards the kitchen, where there's a small table that they all sit around. 

“Tea?” she offers. 

They all decline. 

“Right,” she says, sitting down. “I'm Kunizuka. Yayoi, but,” she shrugs. “Shion told me that you were concerned about a rogue vampire?” 

“Yes,” Akane says. “A young vampire named Oryo Rikako who killed a student at an all-girls' school.” 

Kougami glances at Mika and notices that she's staring openly at Kunizuka, her expression a combination of entranced and disgusted. It's actually amusing. He hopes Kunizuka doesn't notice. 

But Kunizuka seems sharp, despite her pajamas. She thinks for a moment and then says, “Rikako isn't anyone that I know. She doesn't live here. But we did hear rumors of some less than friendly vampires coming into the city and turning people, and encouraging the newer vampires to kill humans. The name Makishima kept floating around.” 

“Makishima wasn't a vampire,” Kougami says. 

“You knew him,” Kunizuka says. “No, he was a human who was bringing them in. Manipulating them.” She frowns at Ginoza. “You're not entirely alive. But you're not a vampire.” 

Ginoza shakes his head. 

“He's been brought back from the dead,” Akane says. “Long story. But about those newer vampires—Makishima is dead. So what's happened to them?” 

“We offered to help some of them,” Kunizuka says. “A few took us up on the offer. But some thought we were too...kind. They didn't think we should be careful with the humans. They thought they were superior. I think someone put those thoughts in their heads, because they were young. Impressionable.” 

“So there are rogue vampires running around the city killing people?” Kougami asks. 

“Where can I find them?” Mika cuts in. 

Kunizuka frowns at her. “Are you going to kill them?” 

“One of them killed my best friend.” 

“If you kill one, the rest will come after you,” Kunizuka says. “Even some vampires not involved in their group won't take kindly to that.” 

“I'll kill them, too,” Mika says with too much confidence. 

“I don't think that's possible,” Akane says, “or necessary. We just want to make sure no one else is under threat.” 

“Is that your job?” Kunizuka asks. 

Akane's eyes widen, slightly. “No, but no one else seems to be paying attention.” 

“If we have the ability to help other people in the magic community, we feel like we should,” Kougami says. 

“You might be in over your head,” Kunizuka says. “I can help you. But I don't want to be responsible for vampires dying.” 

“You won't be,” Akane says. “We're not vampire hunters.” 

Ginoza nudges Kougami, who reads “vampire hunters exist?” from his phone screen. He nods. 

Mika's eyes narrow. “Speak for yourself,” she mutters. 

“We're not all like that,” Kunizuka says. 

Mika turns away from her with a skeptical noise. 

“Rikako went to an all-girls' school,” Akane says, “and everyone thought she was a regular student. Do you think she's working with other people like the rogue vampires you heard about?” 

“I don't know,” Kunizuka admits. “I haven't heard of her before, and I've heard a lot. But she's not going to the school anymore, is she?” 

Akane glances at Mika, who shakes her head. She still won't look at Kunizuka. 

“Well,” Kunizuka says, standing up, “if that's everything, I can take you to find someone who knows about rogue vampires. Just let me get changed.” 

“Thank you,” Akane says. Kunizuka leaves the kitchen, and for a moment the others sit in silence. 

Then Kougami says, “Even when he's dead, Makishima is still a pain in the ass.” 

“I wonder if this girl knows he's dead,” Akane says. “Maybe she's under the impression that he's still alive.” 

“What I want to know is how no one else noticed she's the killer,” Kougami says. “Mika, no one else believed you?” 

“No one would even consider it,” Mika says with disgust. “Rikako was a star student. And an excellent liar. What I don't understand is how she wasn't caught on camera. Our school has intense security. It's how they stop boys from sneaking in and girls from sneaking out.” 

“Vampires don't appear on camera, right?” Kougami asks. 

Akane shakes her head. “That's just in mirrors. They can appear on camera like anyone else. Did anyone even check the footage?” 

“Yeah,” Mika says, “because even if they didn't suspect her they knew something was wrong. One of their students was murdered. But they didn't find anything.” 

“Cold case,” Kougami murmurs. 

Kunizuka comes back, fully dressed. Kougami notes that her style is like that of the bands in her posters, a bit edgy, but she wears a lovely shade of pink nail polish and lipgloss that seems at odds with the dark color of her clothes. 

“You can play guessing games all you want,” she says, “but I'm leaving now.” 

They all push back from the table and follow her into the hallway. 

“Wait,” Mika says, as they walk, “how are we going to go anywhere if she'll melt in the sunlight?” 

“We don't melt,” Kunizuka says. Then she adds, quieter, “It's a bit more dramatic than that.” 

“She has a point,” Kougami says. 

“We're not going outside,” Kunizuka tells him. “There's a complex of buildings here that have tunnels between them. That's why a lot of us live here. We don't have to go outside to get between the buildings. There are shops, other communities. It isn't large, and we still like to go out at night because it gets boring. But it's better than having a single building we're trapped in while the rest of the world is awake.” 

“It must be hell to go shopping,” Kougami says. 

Kunizuka laughs. “Online shopping is the best thing ever invented.” 

Mika gives her a sidelong glance. “How old are you?” 

They reach the end of the corridor, marked by a door that reads “Not An Exit.” Kunizuka fishes out a key, unlocks it, and opens it. 

Beyond is a tunnel, sparsely lit and with no doors on either side. They crowd in behind her and she locks the door before taking the lead again. 

“You still have to have keys to get into each building,” she says, jangling her keychain. “So unless you live here and know about the tunnels, you need someone with you at all times.” 

“Good to know,” Kougami says. 

“Do you think Rikako can get in here?” Akane asks. 

Kunizuka shrugs. “It's possible. I can't say. But maybe the others know something.” 

“What if she's here?” Mika asks. 

“Then our job just got easier,” Kougami says. 

Kunizuka throws a glance back at Ginoza and asks, “So how were you brought back from the dead?” 

“He was killed while performing a spell,” Kougami says. “A soul-exchange. Which caused him to be left behind, but as a ghost.” 

“I've never met a ghost,” Kunizuka says. “So you can do magic?” 

Ginoza nods. 

“But a soul-exchange doesn't sound like any magic I've heard about,” she adds, frowning at him. 

Ginoza types something onto his phone and holds it out. She takes it from him, glances at the screen, then hands it back, eyebrows raised. “Really?” 

He nods again. 

“Why don't you talk?” 

“One of the injuries that killed him was a slash to the throat,” Kougami explains. “It's healing.” 

Mika shudders and looks away. 

“How did you bring him back?” Kunizuka asks. “Wouldn't the body have been...unusable? Not only that, but isn't that impossible?” 

“We know a guy in the morgue,” Kougami says, and Mika looks shocked. “And we also met someone else who'd done it before. It isn't easy. That's why...” He glances at Ginoza, who holds out his phone. 

“'I'm only half alive,'” Kunizuka reads. “Witches are weird.” 

“You haven't met many, have you?” Kougami asks. 

Kunizuka shakes her head. “They tend to keep to themselves.” 

They reach another door, which Kunizuka unlocks and they step into the dimly-lit underground parking lot of another building. 

She leads them past the cars to another door, opens it without having to unlock anything, and they end up in a hallway painted in neutral colors, lined with beige doors. They stop at the third one on the right, and Kunizuka knocks. 

There's no answer. 

“She might be asleep,” Kunizuka says. “It's early, you know.” 

“Sorry,” Akane says. 

Kunizuka shrugs. “I'm not much for sleep anyway.” 

They wait around, Kunizuka knocks again, and finally the door opens to reveal another young woman, also dressed in alternative style, but with much brighter colors than Kunizuka. Even her hair is bright. And she looks a bit surprised to see so many people at her door, but she quickly masks it behind a facade of cool non-emotion. 

“Rina,” Kunizuka says, “these are...witches.” 

“Humans?” Rina eyes them with suspicion. “Why'd you bring humans here, Yayoi?” 

“We've got a bit of an issue,” Kunizuka explains. “They had a run in with a rogue vampire and was wondering if you knew anything about it.” 

“A rogue vampire?” Rina repeats. “How so?” 

“She killed my friend,” Mika says. 

“Maybe she was new and couldn't control herself?” Rina suggests. 

“She looked pretty in control to me,” Mika snaps. 

“Her name is Oryo Rikako,” Kunizuka adds. Rina's eyes widen. “What, you know something?” 

“Um.” Rina shifts on her feet, clearly uncomfortable. But finally she says, “come in.” 

She steps aside and they all filter into the apartment. There's posters and artwork lining every inch of wall space in the hallway leading to the living room. The whole place looks like a hipster's dream home. Rina leads them into the living room and stops in front of a large painting on the far wall. They all gather around. 

The painting is grotesque, but in an aesthetically pleasing way. Kougami frowns at artwork, not sure why it makes him feel so conflicted. It's a painting of a man whose body is twisted like the branches of a tree, his eyes wide in pain and horror. At his feet, his “roots,” is a puddle of blood. Leaves and flowers grow from his skin, reach out to the very edges of the canvas. 

He hears a gasp behind him and turns around to see Mika staggering backwards, one hand clamped over her mouth. Kunizuka places a hand on her shoulder and, surprisingly, Mika lets her. 

“It's okay,” she says. 

“Wait,” Akane says, “you said that Rikako left your friend outside of her house like a statue. Did it look like this?” 

“She-she had plants sticking out of her,” Mika says, voice muffled through her hand. There are tears in her eyes, and she's started to shake. “But the-the police covered it up.” 

“Who did that painting?” Kougami asks. 

“An artist by the name of Oryo Roichi,” Rina says. “He's one of the few people of our kind who became a well-known figure in the human world. No one knew what he really was. Humans were awed by his art because they thought it reflected the grotesque nature of mortality. But actually, he was commenting on the grotesque nature of immortality.” 

“Was?” Kougami repeats. 

“He was killed,” Rina says. “By a few other vampires who felt that his work would expose the whole community. It caused an uproar, and those vampires are dead now, too.” 

“So...is she trying to reflect her father's work?” Kougami asks. 

“Or maybe,” Akane says, narrowing her eyes at the painting, “she's getting revenge for her father's death. By exposing the secret that her father's murderers accused him of trying to expose.” 

“And she's using the resources at her disposal,” Kougami says. He turns over the theory in his head. His instinct tells him that it's the most likely reason for Rikako's behavior. “Which means she'll kill again. Don't you think...” He pauses, not sure if he should say it, but he decides to air the thought anyway. “Don't you think it's a bit like what Makishima was trying to do?” 

Ginoza taps him on the arm and shows him the typed out message, “Makishima is dead.” 

“That doesn't mean that he couldn't have set this in motion beforehand,” Kougami says. “He hasn't been dead that long.” 

Ginoza sighs and types a new message. “So we're fighting a ghost?” 

“No, we'd be fighting Rikako,” Kougami says. “And hoping that Makishima didn't inspire any other supernaturally inclined people to make our lives more difficult.” 

“If she's going to do this again we need to find her,” Akane says. 

“And what?” Kunizuka asks. 

Akane swallows. Kougami knows what the simplest answer would be: to kill her. But Kunizuka and Rina both look like they wouldn't react well to that. Even Mika, who hates vampires, who wants to kill Rikako, seems uncertain about what, exactly, should happen to her. 

“She's young,” Rina says after a moment. “You should talk to her.” 

“What if there's no reasoning with her?” Mika asks. She's calmed down now. Kunizuka's hand is still on her arm, Kougami notices. 

“How would we know?” Rina asks. “You shouldn't be allowed to make decisions about our kind.” 

“I can help them,” Kunizuka says. “If I'm there, and I think it's too much of a risk to let Rikako live, then I can give them permission to kill her.” 

Rina nods. “That's a good plan. If they don't decide to go after her without telling you.” She casts a suspicious look at Kougami and Akane. 

“We wouldn't do that,” Akane says. “We're really grateful for all the help.” 

“The weird thing is,” Rina adds, glancing back at the painting, “that Roichi had a human wife. He might've been turned after he married her. His personal life is a bit murky, but I'm pretty sure I remember his daughter was human.” 

“Mika said she wasn't a vampire before this year,” Kougami says. “But if she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps...” 

“She might've sought out someone to turn her,” Akane finishes. 

Rina nods. “Well, if you're satisfied, I need to sleep. I have a show later in a dive bar. Headlining.” She grins at Kunizuka. “You should come.” 

“If I'm not busy,” Kunizuka says. “Thank you for the help.” 

Rina nods, and Kunizuka leads them out into the corridor. 

As they walk back to her building, Kunizuka finally separates from Mika, and says, “Ordinarily I think Rina can be a little...out there. But right now, I think she's right. I want to be involved in catching Rikako.” 

“Of course,” Kougami says. 

Akane pulls out a small card and hands it over to Kunizuka. “This is the address of our shop,” she says. “I also live above it, so if you turn up you're guaranteed to find me unless I'm out for some reason.” 

“If Rikako kills again,” Mika says, “will she kill another girl from my school? I don't want that to happen.” 

“We'll try to find her before it does,” Akane says. “But I think it'll be much harder for her to kill someone else in the school. They must be on high alert.” 

“They are,” Mika says. “But that means it could be anyone. How do we find her?” 

“What if,” Kougami says, “she targets you next?” 

“Huh?” Mika spins around to face him, shocked, and nearly trips over. 

“At this point you're the biggest threat to her,” Kougami says. “You know the truth about her. You're the only one so far that's tried to stop her. She knows where your dorm is, what your schedule is. We could use that.” 

Ginoza grabs Kougami's arm, looking alarmed. 

“You want me...” 

“To be a trap,” Kougami finishes. Mika looks appalled. 

“I thought you were trying to help.” 

“We are. We wouldn't let anything happen to you. We can have someone watching you at all times, but you can pretend to go back to school as normal. She can only attack you at night, so we have a set time frame for when you'd need to be protected,” Kougami explains. “Kunizuka and Akane can sneak into the school with you. They're less likely to be noticed. Gino and I can stay outside to catch her when she tries to break in.” 

“Do you have a roommate?” Kunizuka asks. 

“My friend was my roommate,” Mika says. 

“If they haven't put anyone else with you, Akane and I can spend the nights in your room,” Kunizuka says. 

Mika opens her mouth, then closes it. “I-I don't...” 

“Good plan,” Kougami says. “We can start tonight. Ideally, it won't take long for her to show.” 

“If it's okay with you,” Akane adds. 

Mika hesitates. They reach Kunizuka's door, but Kunizuka doesn't open it. “Fine. As long as you don't get me killed.” 

“We won't,” Kunizuka promises. “I'll see you all tonight.” And she heads inside, closing the door behind her. 

“We should get you back to the school,” Akane says. 

Mika nods. “I guess so.” 

As they make their way to the car, Kougami notices Ginoza starting to lag behind. He falls back with him and asks, “Are you okay?” 

Ginoza sighs and pulls out his phone, types in, “Just tired.” 

“You should rest tonight,” Kougami says. “Your body's still healing. It probably isn't used to running around.” 

Ginoza types a longer message this time, which he doesn't show Kougami until they're all in the car, Akane driving, Mika in the front seat and the two of them in the back. “It's half-dead. I'm half-dead. Will probably always be like this. I'm going with you.” 

“Not as bad,” Kougami says, placing his hands over Ginoza's cooler ones. “We still have a few hours before dark. We can rest when we go back to the shop.” 

Ginoza nods, leaning against the window. He closes his eyes. 

No one talks while they drive to the school, nor after they drop Mika off with reassurances that they'll see her again just before sunset. They arrive at the shop and Akane decides to keep it closed so that they have time to prepare. Or, in Ginoza's case, rest. 

“Take the back room,” Akane tells him. 

Ginoza nods and heads into the back, closing the door behind him. 

“We should rest, too,” Akane says. “Or have coffee. I'm not sure which.” 

Kougami sighs and plops into one of the seats behind the counter. 

“Still worried about Ginoza?” Akane asks, taking the seat next to him. 

“I just want him to be okay,” Kougami says. “Sometimes I wonder if he ever will be again. Sometimes I feel guilty about it.” 

“It's not your fault,” Akane says. “We all made our own choices.” 

“I know. It's hard to remember that sometimes. It's hard not to think of all the what-ifs.” Like what if Ginoza had never talked to them again after the first time they'd gone to his apartment? What if they'd never decided to get involved in Makishima's murders? 

“There's too many of those,” Akane says. She stands up. “I'm going to take a nap. You can--” 

“I'll stay here with Gino,” Kougami says. 

After Akane leaves, he heads into the back room. Ginoza is curled up on the couch there, the corners of his mouth turned down in a troubled frown. He finds it ironic that now Ginoza wants to stay involved in all of their dangerous magic problems. He almost wishes it wasn't that way, because the more Ginoza gets involved, the more danger he's in. 

But that also kind of makes him a hypocrite, since he's putting himself in danger as well. 

He lowers himself onto the couch. Ginoza stirs, and murmurs, “Lie down?” 

Kougami does. There's not a lot of room for him, so he curves himself around Ginoza to fit, resting his head against Ginoza's shoulder. He still finds himself surprised at Ginoza's coolness. But it doesn't matter. Just the weight of Ginoza is comforting, and he finds that he actually is tired enough to fall asleep. 

He wakes up suddenly, unsure of why, when he realizes that Ginoza is tense against him, breathing hard. He reaches up, strokes Ginoza's hair. “Nightmare?” 

He feels Ginoza nod against him. 

Akane hasn't come for them, so he's assuming they have more time. He continues running his fingers through Ginoza's hair until he feels Ginoza relax, and hears the rhythmic breathing that tells him that Ginoza has fallen back asleep. 

And he drifts off again, too. 

The next time he wakes up, it's because Akane is shaking him and telling them both that it's time to go.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Self-harm trigger warning for the end section after they go home. It's a dream, but it's vivid and...yeah.

That evening, around dinner time, they all sneak onto school grounds. Mika meets them at the back gate, where security is apparently more lax. “No one really comes in or out through here,” she says, opening the gate with ease to illustrate her point. 

“I'd be worried if I were you,” Kougami says. 

“We'll go in through the delivery entrance,” Mika tells them. “Rikako hasn't been back since...She'll probably sneak in through the back. But maybe not. One of you should hide out front. There's bushes all around the building.” 

“Great,” Kougami says, glancing at Ginoza. “Are you okay with that?” 

Ginoza nods. 

“I'll take the back then,” Kougami says, thinking that this way, he'll be the one most likely to confront Rikako. 

Ginoza nods again. 

“You'd think they'd increase their security after a murder,” Kunizuka mutters as Mika opens a door and gestures for her to go through. 

“My friend could've snuck out,” Mika says, “since her body was discovered off-campus. And since they don't have camera feeds from that night, they can't confirm that anything happened on campus.” 

“If they even suggested that, parents would panic,” Akane adds. 

Mika nods. “Let's go.” Akane and Kunizuka follow her inside, leaving Kougami and Ginoza behind. 

Ginoza turns and starts walking towards the front of the building. “Gino?” Kougami calls out. Ginoza turns to him. “Keep safe.” 

With a final nod, Ginoza turns and disappears around the corner. 

Kougami ducks behind a group of bushes, giving him a clear view of the back gate, and waits. 

Nothing happens. For the first hour, Kougami thinks, maybe Rikako won't take the bait. And then he starts to worry. They can't do this every night. There's no one around. She absolutely has to come this way. Kougami hasn't seen another person since he was dropped off. 

And then his phone buzzes. 

It's kind of anticlimactic. 

He picks it up. 

“Kou—ach,” Ginoza shouts, or tries to. His voice cracks. “Mika's room!” Something smashes, and the phone disconnects. 

“Shit.” Kougami springs into action, running in through the nearest entrance. Mika had given them a layout of the building, and he hopes it was accurate as he runs to her room. 

When he gets there, a lot is happening. He feels slightly put out that Rikako didn't try to get past him first. 

And a bit worried about the fact that Ginoza is attempting to draw a circle on the floor along with a handful of symbols with blood from an injury Kougami can't see. On the other side Kunizuka and Rikako are beating the crap out of each other while Akane stands in front of Mika, arms spread wide to prevent Rikako from getting to her if she manages to take out Kunizuka. 

The good thing about all of this chaos is that Kougami comes into the room without anyone noticing, walks up behind Rikako, and grabs her. 

“Be careful!” Kunizuka snaps, and at the same time Rikako twists around with a strength Kougami hadn't expected from her, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground. 

She bares her sharp teeth, mouth opening almost impossibly wide, and it's one of the most terrifying things Kougami has ever seen. He feels like she's going to swallow him whole. 

And then something slams into the side of her head, and she falls off him. Kougami scrambles to his feet just as Kunizuka drags Rikako by her hair into the circle of symbols drawn by Ginoza, and drops her there without stepping into the circle herself. She backs away, as does Ginoza, and soon they're all on the other side of the room, watching Rikako as she stands up. 

Rikako attempts to step outside of the circle, but as soon as she does, a flame leaps from the point of contact she's made with the border and she withdraws her foot, face pained. 

“O-okay,” Akane says, looking shocked. “I wouldn't try to escape if I were you.” 

“This is going to burn down my room, isn't it,” Mika mutters, stepping away from Akane and folding her arms over her chest. 

“Kill me,” Rikako says. “I'd like to see the blood on your hands.” She settles her piercing gaze on Mika. “After all, your friend's blood is on mine.” 

Mika makes a small noise that reminds Kougami just how young she is. Out of everyone in this situation, Mika is the one with the most to lose. And she's the one who's going to get hurt. 

“But,” Rikako continues, this time addressing Kunizuka, “you wouldn't kill one of your own, would you.” 

“That depends,” Kunizuka says. “You're pretty much admitting to murdering a seventeen-year-old girl.” 

“You weren't a vampire last year,” Mika blurts out, suddenly. 

Rikako grins. “No. I wasn't. But I did enjoy blood. There's something exhilarating about having it spill over your skin, run down your throat, like liquid life.” 

“Most of us don't enjoy it,” Kunizuka says. “Most of us didn't want this.” 

“And yet there are some who truly embody the idea of a monster,” Rikako says. “It's the best thing that ever happened to me.” 

“Who turned you?” Kougami asks. 

“A stranger,” Rikako says. “No one involved in any of the pacifist vampire communities that play at being human. A hunter who killed his victims with true artistry. I met a man who put me in contact with him. Or rather, set him upon me. He was more than happy to have a new protege in the art of killing.” 

Mika has turned away, hand over her mouth. Kunizuka pulls her close, and Mika turns into her chest, away from Rikako. 

“How did you avoid the cameras in this place?” Kougami asks. “How did you kill Mika's friend?” 

Mika flinches, which makes Rikako grin wider, practically baring her teeth. “The man who found me the hunter had a friend who could manipulate the cameras without even needing to touch them. I don't know if he knew magic, but he and the man seemed very close.” 

Kougami grits his teeth. 

“What did the man look like? Did you ever get his name?” Akane asks. The usual gentleness in her voice is gone. Rikako is getting to her, too. 

“No,” Rikako says. “But he was a man of magic and the arts. He wore white, a symbol of purity and power, he said. He had white hair.” 

“He's dead,” Kougami tells her, grinning almost as wide as she had been. 

It doesn't have the effect he wants. Rikako merely sighs and says, “All great artists die for their art.” 

“Right.” Kougami turns to Kunizuka. “I know it's your call, but personally, I don't think she should live.” 

Ginoza grabs his arm, suddenly. “Since when do you get to judge that?” he rasps. 

“Who else will?” Kougami asks. “The police?” 

“Not you.” 

Kougami stares at Ginoza, and Ginoza stares right back, jaw set. 

“We can take care of it,” Kunizuka says after a moment. “Or, I can. It is, after all, our responsibility.” 

“It shouldn't fall to you,” Akane says. “Your community isn't at fault. We dragged you into this.” 

“Rightly,” Kunizuka says. “I've done this before. I'll do it right. You might mess up.” 

Akane doesn't have an argument for that. Kunizuka gently pulls Mika away from her, makes sure that she can stand on her own, and then walks up to the edge of the circle where Rikako is contained. 

“Is it really your place to judge me?” Rikako asks, softly. 

Kunizuka shrugs. “Someone has to.” 

And then, lightning fast, she lunges into the circle and with a terrible tearing, cracking sound, rips Rikako's head straight off her shoulders, ignoring the burns springing up on her arms. 

She drops the head at the same time as the body falls, and both burst into flames. She steps back, Mika screams, and even Kougami feels a bit sick as Rikako's body burns in the middle of Mika's room. 

They watch the flames die down, until there's nothing but ash and the remains of the containment circle. 

Mika sobs and runs out of the room. 

“I'll talk to her,” Kunizuka says. “Do whatever you want with the ashes.” She follows Mika out. 

Akane shudders, and says, “We should clean this up.” 

“Is there any use for vampire ashes?” Kougami asks. 

“Maybe. I don't know. I'm going to get some cleaning supplies. I'm sure there's some around here.” And then she, too, leaves the room. 

Kougami turns to Ginoza, who is clutching at his arm. He notices blood welling up through the spaces between Ginoza's fingers. “You're injured.” 

“It's okay.” 

“Did she bite you?” 

Ginoza shakes his head. “Akane said we needed to make a containment circle, and it's usually better with blood. So I decided to use mine. I just used a knife.” 

“You...” 

“It's fine.” Ginoza grimaces. “I may have cut a bit too deep. But it bleeds differently.” 

“What do you mean?” Kougami moves closer, and Ginoza holds out his arm. The blood, darker instead of bright red, oozes out of the wound. Ginoza's arm is covered in the stuff, sticky, some wet, some drying. 

“It comes out slowly,” Ginoza says. “It doesn't feel as warm.” 

“But you're still losing blood,” Kougami says. 

“It feels strange,” Ginoza says. “I should have bled a lot more.” 

“I'm glad you didn't,” Kougami says. “But we still need to fix it. It'll take it longer to heal, now. And if it gets infected...you're still recovering from everything else.” 

“Do you think my blood is different?” 

“Why?” 

“Akane seemed surprised when Rikako burst into flames the first time she tried to escape,” Ginoza says. “But I just drew what she told me to.” 

“We can figure that out when we get home,” Kougami says, “and when we get this fixed. We need to stop the bleeding.” He lets go of Ginoza to look around the room, finds a set of ties that he assumes goes with Mika's uniform, assumes that she won't miss one, and uses it to try to stem the blood flow. When he's done, Ginoza tugs his sweater sleeve over the make-shift bandage. 

Akane returns with the cleaning supplies. “We better get all of this cleaned up before someone notices we're all here.” 

“I can clean the circle,” Ginoza says. 

“I will,” Kougami says. “It might be hard to get the bloodstains off the floor. You should help Akane with the ashes.” 

Ginoza frowns, but Kougami takes a spray-bottle of cleaning fluid and a cloth and starts scrubbing away. Ginoza's blood comes up from the floor with some effort, rusty red-brown, soon covering the cloth and sending chills down Kougami's body. 

He's seen too much of Ginoza's blood spilled. And he wonders why it was so easy for Ginoza to volunteer his blood for this. 

* 

Mika doesn't go outside. She stands in the threshold of the back door exit, and that's where Kunizuka finds her. 

“That was brutal,” Mika says, shuddering. 

Kunizuka puts a hand on her shoulder, gentle. “I'm sorry you had to see that. And to hear the things she said.” 

“I should've been able to stop her.” 

“You were brave, though,” Kunizuka says. Mika stares at her, incredulously. “Don't give me that look. You decided to fight even though Rikako killed your friend.” 

“I didn't do anything,” Mika points out. “I just stood there.” 

“Would you have been able to kill her?” Kunizuka asks. 

Mika looks away. “I don't know. But I should--” 

“It doesn't matter,” Kunizuka says. “It's probably good that you wouldn't have been able to.” 

Mika takes this in. “What do I do now?”

“The guys back in your room are good people,” Kunizuka says. “You should get to know them.” 

Mika nods. “I don't want to stay in my room tonight. Do you think Akane would let me stay with her? Or you?” 

“It probably wouldn't be a great idea for you to stay with me,” Kunizuka says with an apologetic smile. “But I'm sure Akane would be more than happy.” 

*

Kunizuka leaves them at the car, deciding to walk home. Akane agrees that Mika can stay with her, and they head back to the shop. It's pushing one in the morning, they're all exhausted, and Kougami notices on the ride back, when Ginoza is leaning against him half-asleep, that blood has started to stain Ginoza's sweater, having soaked through the scarf tied around his arm. 

They go into the shop, and Kougami finds Akane's first aid supplies. 

“I'm going to bed,” Akane says, leading Mika towards the door to her apartment. “Lock up if you leave.” 

Kougami nods. “I think we need to find out who the guy who got Rikako past the cameras is,” he says. 

Akane nods. “Tomorrow, Kougami.” 

“Right.” 

She turns and disappears through the door with Mika. Kougami turns to Ginoza, who's sat down, and kneels in front of him. Ginoza rolls up the sleeve of his sweater, revealing the blood-soaked scarf. Kougami unties it, tosses it to the side, and begins cleaning the wound. 

“It might need stitches,” he says. 

“We can't go to the hospital,” Ginoza murmurs. “They'll think I'm half-dead.” He laughs, softly. “Because I am.” 

Kougami frowns, but keeps cleaning the wound. He finds a large dressing and tapes it to Ginoza's arm, hoping it'll work. Ginoza pulls his sleeve back over the wound, and they both stand up. 

“Come back to mine,” Kougami says. 

Ginoza nods, and then looks down at himself. “Only if I can have a new sweater for tomorrow.” 

“Yeah,” Kougami says, relieved that he's agreed so easily. “Of course.” 

They get to Kougami's apartment twenty minutes later, and head straight to bed. Both of them quickly fall asleep, exhausted. 

*

There's a knife in his hand, and his arm is straightened on the kitchen counter. His own kitchen counter, not Kougami's. He's fixated on the pale skin of the underside of his arm. Too pale. 

He doesn't think about it, but his other hand, the one holding the knife, moves. It grips the knife tight, digs the tip into his wrist. Dark blood oozes out of the point of contact, slowly starts to run down his arm onto the counter. 

Now, Ginoza thinks, would be a good time to stop. 

But he doesn't stop. His hand seems to be unaware of what his brain is thinking, and even his brain doesn't seem to be thinking much at all. He digs the blade deeper, feels a sharp pain. Which brings up only one thought, a single word: good. 

The hand with the knife starts dragging the blade down his arm, vertically, making sure to keep the pressure steady so that the blade keeps cutting deep. Dragging up Ginoza's arm, towards the crook of his elbow, splitting the skin, more and more blood running dark onto the counter, turning Ginoza's skin a burnt red. He thinks he can see bone. He's splitting himself open, and it hurts, but it feels...

Good. 

He wakes up in Kougami's bed, breathing hard, heart beating too fast. Kougami is still asleep, and the room is still dark, and he stretches out his arm and feels the sting of the cut there. It hasn't soaked through. The bleeding seems to have stopped. And it aches, but the pain isn't sharp. 

And the thing that scares Ginoza is the disappointment he feels. And he isn't sure why. It makes his throat close up, and he feels like he wants to be sick. 

But he doesn't move. Because if he does, Kougami will wake up. 

And he doesn't want Kougami to be scared like he is. 

He spends the next few hours trying to slow his heart, and trying not to think about the satisfaction of cutting himself open.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! I'm sorry I've been so crap at updating. Here is an update!

“Is my blood actually different than using someone else's?” Ginoza asks Akane the next morning in the shop. 

Kougami is surprised by the question, and that Ginoza has completely abandoned using the phone to communicate. His voice is still rough, but perhaps he finds it easier. He looks exhausted, though. Kougami had asked if Ginoza had slept well, and Ginoza had said yes, but Kougami isn't so sure. At least his injury seems to have stopped bleeding. 

Akane also looks surprised. “What?” 

“You looked like you weren't expecting the flames.” 

“No. It was just supposed to be a barrier.” Akane takes out the large spell book from under the counter. The store is open, but there aren't many customers, so she starts flipping through it. 

“Where's Mika?” Kougami asks. 

“School,” Akane says, attention still half on the book. “She couldn't sleep. I wish we hadn't had to kill Rikako in her room. She probably doesn't feel like she has a safe place to go.” 

“The threat is gone,” Kougami says. 

“But the memory of what happened there isn't,” Akane says. “It's harder to get rid of feelings than it is to get rid of physical things, sometimes.” 

“Like vampires,” Kougami mutters. “So what do we do?” 

“Help her improve her defensive magic,” Akane says, “if she wants. Or just give her someone to talk to.” She stops on a page, leans forward. 

Kougami and Ginoza both lean forward, too, but the book is hard to read upside-down. 

After a moment Akane says, “According to this, one of the best ways to hurt a vampire is by using the blood of a dead man or woman.” 

“Dead man,” Ginoza repeats. 

“I guess died and came back blood also qualifies,” Kougami says. 

“At least my blood is good for something,” Ginoza mutters. 

“I didn't know that,” Akane says. “But it's veering on necromancy. We got lucky.” She sighs. “I wonder if Kunizuka knew. She was very careful not to touch it. And she was fascinated by you.” 

“Maybe she was repulsed by me,” Ginoza says, looking away. 

Akane gives Kougami a concerned look. 

“I don't think so,” Kougami says. “You're not actually dead, Gino.” 

“Right,” Ginoza says. 

“Anyway,” Kougami adds, “we do have another problem. The person who messed with the cameras. And who might've known Makishima and helped him. They must still be around.” 

“We don't need to find them.” 

“They could be dangerous.” 

“They're lying low,” Ginoza points out. 

“Are they?” Kougami asks. “They helped Rikako even after Makishima's death. Chances are, they know about us now.” 

Ginoza sighs. 

“It might be worth checking out,” Akane says. “Carefully. If he's good with tech, maybe Kagari or Hinakawa know something. They're both into programming.” 

“Programming and dead people,” Kougami says. “They should get together some time.” 

“So we're just throwing ourselves into another dangerous situation?” Ginoza asks. 

Akane and Kougami look at each other, then at him. “No,” Akane says after a moment. “We're gathering information and assessing the situation. Which is why we're going to Hinakawa first.” She closes the spell book, puts it away, and stands up. “We should start-” 

The door opens, interrupting her. A tall man with long dark hair walks in. He doesn't spare them a glance, instead starts browsing the shelves. Ginoza moves so that he's sitting next to Akane rather than in front of the counter, watching the him. 

“We shouldn't have opened today,” Kougami says quietly, also moving out of the way. 

Akane shrugs. “It isn't urgent.” 

Ginoza continues to watch the dark-haired man. Akane sends off a message to Hinakawa. Kougami plays with the cigarettes in his pocket, having long forgotten how to be a good practitioner of customer service. 

Eventually, the man stops browsing the shelves and approaches the counter, a smile on his face that Kougami would call warm if it actually felt that way. He has sharp eyes that sweep over him and Ginoza before settling on Akane. 

“Are you the owner of this shop?” he asks. 

“Yes,” Akane says. 

“Tsunemori, right?” 

“Yes. I own the shop with Kougami.” She gestures to him. “Can I help you?” 

“Actually, I would like to help you,” the man says. “I've heard that you've been dealing with some of the issues in the magical community of this city. I have some information that might be useful.” 

“Really?” Akane sounds friendly, but Kougami recognizes the cool skepticism behind her demeanor. “That would be great. But why do you want to help us?” 

“Forgive me for saying this,” the man says, “but I can sense that you have a great power. And perhaps it is wasted doing something as small as running a shop.” 

“This shop helps people who need it,” Akane says. “And I have to make a living somehow.” 

“And yet the shop has only started generating traffic recently,” the man says. “And only for the purpose of gathering information, am I right?” 

Akane narrows her eyes. “You never told me your name.” 

“Tougane Sakuya,” the man says, holding out his hand. Akane takes it, briefly. 

“I don't think the shop is a waste of time,” Akane tells him. 

“Perhaps not,” Tougane says, “but perhaps your passion lies elsewhere. You enjoy being able to make a difference, don't you?” 

Akane stares at him. 

“Sorry,” Kougami says, “but what was the information you had?” 

Tougane spares him a glance, but only for a second. “I've heard whispers about the right-hand-man of the murderer that you killed. A name, if it helps. Choe Gu-Sung.” 

“Choe Gu-Sung,” Akane repeats. 

“I care about this community,” Tougane says. “I'd like to help you, if you'd let me. But for now, I will leave you with that name. Do with it what you will.” 

“Thank you,” Akane says. 

Tougane nods. “Have a good day.” And then he leaves. 

Akane blinks, and turns to the others. “We need to see Hinakawa.” 

*

“I don't trust him,” Ginoza mutters when they're halfway to the morgue. 

“But he could be right,” Akane says. “If Hinakawa doesn't know anything, Kagari might. If they both don't, then either the information is wrong, or this guy is really good at keeping himself hidden. In which case, why would Tougane know about him?” 

“Because he's into sketchy stuff,” Kougami says. 

“I didn't get much from him,” Akane admits. “I wasn't trying to read him but sometimes you feel things from people. And I got...nothing.” 

They pull up to the morgue and waste no time in finding Hinakawa and asking him about Gu-Sung. 

“I don't know,” Hinakawa says, glancing at Ginoza and then back to Akane. “I don't interact with them often. Just online. People don't use real names online.” He looks apologetic that he doesn't have the information they want. 

“That's fine,” Akane says. “But was there any indication that any of them were into magic?” 

“I don't think so,” Hinakawa says. “Some of them were...so good I couldn't understand it. Some of the stuff they did.” His eyes flicker from Akane to Ginoza. “S-sorry, you're not a ghost anymore.” 

Ginoza startles. “Ah, no. That problem got fixed.” 

“Good,” Hinakawa says. “Sorry. I just...I've never seen that before.” He looks at Akane again. “And I'm sorry I couldn't help.” 

“You are helping,” Akane says. “And we have someone else we can ask.” 

“At another morgue, ironically,” Kougami says. 

Hinakawa frowns. “What? Is the guy you're looking for dangerous?” 

“He might be,” Akane says. 

“He is,” Kougami says. 

Hinakawa bites his lip. And then blurts out, “I want to come.” 

Akane looks surprised. 

“I mean,” Hinakawa continues, the words tumbling out, “I still interact with them a lot. I should know if there's something dangerous. And maybe the more I know, I can help. Maybe I can help this guy look for him, if he has some information and I have other information, and if you need to find him, we wouldn't be conspicuous because we're already part of that kind of community.” 

Akane smiles. “If you want to, I'd be happy to have you join us.” 

“Y-yeah,” Hinakawa says. “Are you going now? I can sign out for a break. It's fine. Um.” 

“Yes. We'll wait for you outside,” Akane says. Hinakawa goes off to sort out his break, and Akane and the others head back to the car. 

“He really wants to help,” Ginoza says after a moment. 

Akane nods. “I helped him once. He's such a kind person. And he gets very concerned if there's danger to anyone he cares about.” 

“He's concerned about you,” Kougami says. “What did you do for him?” 

“I found him a job,” Akane says, softly. They wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn't, and they don't push. Hinakawa comes out a few moments later and they get into the car. He climbs in the back with Ginoza, and they drive off to the second morgue. 

“So...” Kougami says after a moment. “Is it just a coincidence that people into programming also work in morgues? Or is there a connection?” 

Hinakawa shakes his head. “No connection.” 

“Coincidence,” Akane says. “At least in Kagari's case, he finds that kind of thing fascinating as well. And it's the only place where he won't be at risk of hurting people by accidentally setting something on fire.” 

“Wh-what?” Hinakawa asks. 

“He's enthusiastic,” Akane says. “And he has a talent for fire magic.” 

“Meaning he has a talent for setting living things on fire,” Kougami says. 

“And not so living things,” Akane says. 

“Are we safe?” Hinakawa asks. 

“I'm exaggerating,” Akane says. “He's perfectly fine.” 

“You're not exaggerating that much,” Kougami mutters. 

They pull up to the second morgue and head inside. Hinakawa looks nervous and hangs back with Ginoza, who is nervous for an entirely different reason. Kougami offers Ginoza his hand. 

“You probably don't like being here,” he says. 

“It shouldn't matter,” Ginoza says. “I was dead.” 

“Like Saiga said, it can take its toll mentally.” 

“But it shouldn't.” Still, Ginoza takes his hand. 

Kagari greets them with his usual energy and a wide smile. “Don't tell me you have another body to resurrect,” he says, looking them over. “It's hard enough hiding one disappearing body.” His gaze lands on Hinakawa. “Who are you?” 

“We're actually looking for someone who might've worked with Makishima,” Akane says. 

Kagari steps back. “Come into my office.” 

They go inside, scatter themselves amongst the metal tables. There are no bodies out. Ginoza lets go of Kougami's hand to wrap his arms around himself. 

Kagari hoists himself up to sit on one of the tables, kicking his legs and looking at them all. “So, what's up?” 

“First of all,” Akane says, “this is Hinakawa Sho. He's going to help us. He works at one of the other morgues in the city.” 

Hinakawa nods. “Uh, hi.” 

“Hi! I'm Kagari Shuusei. Always nice to meet a fellow dead person whisperer.” 

Hinakawa's eyes widen. 

“That's not what you do,” Kougami says. “That's what Gino does.” 

Ginoza elbows him. 

“I like to think we have a connection,” Kagari says. “Anyway, what's Hinakawa Sho helping with? Who's this Makishima dude?” 

“Some guy named Choe Gu-Sung,” Kougami says. “Apparently, according to this information source who may or may not be questionable, but he may be a hacker, and a magic user, and Hinakawa is part of an online tech community and I know you are, too.” 

“For gaming,” Kagari says. “And no one really gives their real names online.” 

“That's what I said,” Hinakawa muttered. 

“But! There are meet-ups. Sharing parties. Programming jams, Things like that,” Kagari says. “I've never been to one but I could go. Try to weed out the magic user.” He turns to Hinakawa. “What did you think?” 

“Some people do things,” Hinakawa says, “that seem impossible. And I'm g-good at programming. Hacking. And I can't understand.” 

“You're probably better than I am,” Kagari says. “All my programming knowledge has to do with games and covering up missing bodies in our database here.” He winks at Akane. “But what we can do is generate a list of suspicious users we've both talked to. Oh! Maybe we even chat in the same communities!” 

“Maybe,” Hinakawa says, a bit overwhelmed by Kagari's enthusiasm. 

“We can do that. And see which of them are going to any meet-ups that are happening soon. Maybe organize one. Maybe convince a few to come.” 

“That would be c-cool,” Hinakawa says. “When do you want to do that?” 

“Now!” Kagari jumps off the table. “I bring my personal laptop to work anyway because sometimes dead people are boring as fuck. If you have yours--” 

“I have my phone,” Hinakawa says. “B-but that's good enough, for now.” 

“Okay. As for the rest of you,” Kagari shrugs, “this is boring. You might want to, I don't know. Do something more fun. Unless you like this sort of thing. Akane? Are you a secret game nerd?” 

“I like games,” Akane says, “but no. I should probably get back to the shop.” 

“Then Hinakawa and I will do some investigating,” Kagari says, “and get back to you with what we find.” He smiles. “This'll be a lot more interesting than what I was gonna do.” 

“What were you going to do?” Akane asks. 

“Play with the bodies.” 

“I hope he's not serious,” Ginoza mutters. 

Hinakawa looks torn between looking forward to his afternoon with Kagari and begging Akane not to leave him here. 

“I'll see you later,” Akane says. “Good luck.” 

“Thanks, Akane-chan!” 

They head back out, and Akane turns to Ginoza and Kougami. “You know what you two need?” 

“Coffee?” Kougami suggests. 

Akane gives him a disappointed look. “No. A date.” 

* 

Given that their relationship has involved a lot of magic, murder, resurrection, and vampires, it's not surprising that going on dates has fallen to the wayside. 

It's even less surprising that Kougami and Ginoza don't really know what dates are. 

Akane suggests dinner, at a nice place. “Nothing too fancy. But you should have to dress up a little. And fix your hair, Kougami.” 

They end up at a hot pot place, which Kougami realizes is full of families and groups of friends and is probably usually meant for more than two people. Ginoza doesn't seem to mind. The food is warm and good and the atmosphere is friendly. There's no candles, no mood-lighting, but there's less pressure that way. 

Kougami adjusts his tie for the fifteenth time, wondering if he can just take it off. 

Ginoza doesn't look out of place in his own button-down shirt and tie. It suits him, somehow. He plucks a piece of meat out of the broth and pops it into his mouth. 

“Have you ever dated before?” Kougami asks. 

Ginoza swallows, almost choking. “What?” 

“Like, other people?” 

“Is that something you're supposed to ask?” 

“I don't know,” Kougami says. “I know a lot about you but not about who you've dated.” 

“I think you've got the wrong idea about how this works,” Ginoza says, plopping another piece of meat into the broth. “Why, have you?” He smiles to himself. “Actually, I bet you've charmed a lot of people into your...apartment.” 

Bed, Kougami thinks. “Uh, maybe. I asked you first.” 

“I dated a friend once,” Ginoza says absently. “Her name was Risa. We're still friends.” 

“Oh.” Kougami doesn't know what to say to that. He wonders who Risa is, what she's like. 

“How about you?” 

“Yeah, uh, I've dated a bit.” He stuffs more food into his mouth, hoping that it means he'll be excused from talking. 

He isn't. Ginoza prods. “Long term? Short term? Flings?” 

Kougami swallows. “Now who's asking the questions? I guess a combination. Nothing really long term. Not always magic users. That was hard. I felt like I had to keep secrets. Was Risa a magic user?” 

“Yeah,” Ginoza says. “Did you...” He looks down. “Never mind.” He takes a gulp of his drink, warm sake. 

Kougami leans forward. “What?” 

“You won't like this question.” 

“What?” 

Ginoza sighs. “Did you sleep with them?” 

“Of course,” Kougami says. Then he realizes why Ginoza might be asking. Then he backtracks. “I mean, yeah, I did. Because they liked that sort of thing.” 

“Okay.” Ginoza sips his drink. His cheeks are slightly red. “I slept with Risa, once.” 

Kougami's jaw drops. “What?” 

“That was before I knew what I liked and didn't like,” Ginoza says, draining his drink. He flags down the waiter, asks for another. “It's been a while since I've actually been able to have alcohol.” 

“You were dead,” Kougami points out. His own drink isn't finished,. He wonders if he should try matching Ginoza's drinking pace. If it's that kind of night. He takes a sip, feels the bitter liquid run down his throat. The slight buzz that follows. It's been a while since he's been drunk, too. 

“Yeah, I was,” Ginoza says, looking back up. “Does that bother you? That I was dead, and now I'm not?” 

Kougami shrugs. “It doesn't really matter, I guess. You're still you.” 

“Am I?” Challenging, but there's an uncertainty in Ginoza's expression that Kougami doesn't like. 

“You are,” he says. 

Ginoza's second drink arrives and he takes a large gulp. “I don't trust this Tougane person.” 

“Neither do I,” Kougami says. “Why would he know that stuff? Why does he want to help?” This is more familiar territory, wondering about the motivations of other people. 

“The way he looked at Akane,” Ginoza says, “was...not good. I don't think.” 

Kougami smiles. “You're worried about Akane.” 

Ginoza shrugs. “I like her.” 

Kougami laughs. “I think everyone likes Akane. Except Mika.” 

“Mika is young and bitter,” Ginoza says, spearing a piece of meat. “She shouldn't be. She's too young.” 

“Is she now?” 

“Too young to be so bitter.” 

“Her best friend did just die.” 

“Because of Makishima,” Ginoza sighs, closing his eyes and taking another long sip of his drink, speared meat set aside on his plate. “I had hoped he would have died completely with me.” He opens his eyes and stares at his plate. 

“Hey, Gino,” Kougami says. Ginoza looks up at him. “You did good. Alright. You saved our lives.” 

“Not hers.” 

“You can't save everyone.” 

“Who knows who else I didn't save,” Ginoza says. “His accomplice is still out there. I should have known he wasn't working alone.” 

“Kagari and Hinakawa will find something out I'm sure,” Kougami says, “and we'll find this guy and stop him from doing anything really shitty. And we'll figure out what's going on with Tougane, too.” 

Ginoza nods, and blinks at his plate. “I think I'm done.” 

“So am I,” Kougami says. “Can I walk you home?” 

Ginoza offers him a small smile. “Did that line work on the others?” 

“It's not a line!” 

“Yes,” Ginoza says. “You can walk me home. It isn't like you haven't dragged me there before.” 

* 

“Do you think we can have a get-together in a morgue? Do you think that would attract a criminal?” 

Kagari leans against the cold metal wall, uncaring that behind him are several dozens of freshly dead bodies. Hinakawa has been pacing for half an hour, checking his phone and watching Kagari engage the hacking community in an online chatroom with an ease that he finds elusive. 

He isn't even talking to them face-to-face, and he can barely say a word. He feels like he isn't helping. 

“I-I don't know,” he says. “It sounds like you have it under control, though. I...you don't need me here.” 

Kagari looks up from his screen. “What are you talking about? You found me this chatroom.” 

“I mean yeah but-” 

“Sit.” 

Perplexed, Hinakawa makes his way over and lowers himself onto the floor next to Kagari, careful not to lean against the wall. Not because there are bodies in there, but because the metal is cold and he's already chilled. 

The chatroom is the only thing up on Kagari's screen and Kagari is already typing a new message out. “You don't need to talk if you don't want to,” Kagari says. “I just need to know if I should be worried about anything they're saying, or if there's anything suspicious in the chat. I don't know as much about these people as you do.” 

“B-but you're doing all the talking.” 

“Yeah, I'm like the muscle, but with my mouth, and you're the brains,” Kagari tells him, giving him an encouraging smile. “I like talking. Some people like it and some don't.” 

“Y-you don't care that I don't?” 

“No. Besides, it gets lonely all day sitting around with dead people. I like the company.” He looks Hinakawa in the eye. “You're good company.” 

Hinakawa feels his cheeks grow warm and he looks away. “No, I'm not,” he mumbles. 

Kagari looks like he's going to protest, but he glances down at the chat and gets distracted. “Oi, what about this?” He jabs a finger at the screen and Hinakawa leans close to him to read, forgetting his phone for a moment. 

One of the chatroom members is insisting that they can hack into the database of the Tokyo Police and get any information needed. 

Hinakawa looks up at Kagari. “You asked to hack into the police? W-won't they think you're some kind of criminal?” 

“I don't know anyone who can,” Kagari says. 

“I think I could,” Hinakawa mutters. 

Kagari raises an eyebrow. “Well, besides you. Have you?” 

“No. Because it's the police,” Hinakawa returns his attention to the screen. “They seem pretty confident.” 

“And now they're starting up a fuck-the-police circle jerk,” Kagari says, sighing. “A morgue would be a pretty good place to hack from, don't you think?” 

“W-won't you get fired?” 

“No one's here at night except me. Presumably this person can also hack into security cameras, if they're the same person that helped Rikako get away with murder at a prestigious academy. I think they can erase all evidence that they were here.” 

“That sounds dangerous.” 

“For Akane-chan, that's a risk I'm willing to take.” He types in a few words, the beginning of his invitation to a hacking party to hack the police. 

“You like her, don't you?” Hinakawa moves away, suddenly aware of the physical closeness between him and Kagari. 

“She's a good friend,” Kagari says, half-absorbed in the chat now. “She's a great person. I think if you can get to know her, you should. She genuinely cares a lot.” 

Do you think she would care about me? Hinakawa wants to ask. 

But he doesn't. He watches Kagari's chat play out instead.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE REALLY LONG DELAY! IT'S BEEN QUITE A HALF YEAR! Also I ended up in Haikyuu hell and now I have to figure out how to be in Psycho-Pass hell AND Haikyuu hell at the same time. Anyway, enjoy!

Ginoza is a lot more touchy-feely when drunk. 

Kougami knows this because Ginoza is stuck to his side as they walk back to his apartment. It's cold, which could explain why Ginoza is holding onto his arm for dear life, but the more likely reason is that Ginoza is tipsy enough to actually want physical closeness. That his barriers are down enough that he can actually relax for a bit and not second guess Kougami's intentions. 

Luckily Ginoza isn't drunk enough that getting back is a problem, though he does fumble with the keys to his door and drops them. Kougami bends over to get them, and when he straightens up Ginoza grabs his jacket and pulls him forward for a kiss. 

Kougami drops the keys again, uses his now free hand to run his fingers through Ginoza's hair, and maybe he's a little tipsy too. Ginoza kisses back, almost desperate. Kougami pulls away to catch his breath and murmurs, “Not in the hallway.” 

“Not in the-” Ginoza repeats, confused. 

Kougami grabs the keys again and gets the door open, and they both stumble inside. Dime greets them, tail wagging, and Ginoza leans over to scratch behind his ears. It doesn't last long. Kougami takes him by the arm and pulls him in for another kiss. 

His own jacket is already on the floor. He pulls off Ginoza's jacket and tosses it onto the couch. Together they stagger-kiss towards the bedroom, Kougami wanting to enjoy every moment of this newfound affection from Ginoza that he can, to maybe use these moments to convince him that this is okay, that what they're doing with their relationship is right, that he shouldn't be afraid. 

But he starts to lose himself, trying to warm Ginoza's cool skin, drinking in his kisses and leaning into Ginoza's hands running through his hair. They end up on the bed, lying down, and Kougami tugs at Ginoza's sweater, actually manages to pull it off before Ginoza roughly pushes him away, eyes wide, hair a mess, face pale. 

Kougami has a moment to see the full extent of Ginoza's scars and injuries on his chest, the gash across his throat, still not completely healed, grotesque against his pale skin. Scars that will never go away, he realizes. 

Ginoza curls in on himself, wrapping his arms over his chest and leaning forward. 

“Hey.” Kougami shifts to kneel in front of him, cups his hand under Ginoza's chin. “Gino.” 

“I'm sorry,” Ginoza mutters. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” 

“What for?” 

“I'm half-dead,” Ginoza snaps, glaring at him, “and even if I wasn't, I can't give you what you need. You want more from me.” 

“I want you to be happy,” Kougami says. “I'm sorry, I went too far. I just got caught up-” 

“-and with so many people you could keep going without having to worry about it,” Ginoza cuts him off. “Instead you're stuck with someone who doesn't even want that, and who's half dead. A monster.” 

“No.” Kougami holds Ginoza's gaze. “Not a monster. It doesn't matter to me that you don't want to go further than kissing or that you have those scars or that you died once. I don't care. Not about that. I just want what you want to give me.” 

Ginoza relaxes, a little. Uncurling a little, sitting up straighter. Shivering. 

“I'll get you a shirt,” Kougami says, starting up. 

“N-no,” Ginoza tugs at his sleeve. “It's fine. I just...I should get used to this,” he gestures at his chest. “And you. Trusting you.” He sighs. “I just want...” He bites his lip. “To be held,” he finishes, quietly. 

“I can do that. Just let me get comfortable. We might fall asleep.” 

Ginoza nods, and Kougami takes off his shoes, pants, shirt. Ginoza does the same, changing into pajama pants but, noticeably, not a shirt, before they both crawl under the covers. 

Kougami wraps his arms around Ginoza, ignoring how cold he is. Just concentrating on giving him warmth, and comfort. Ginoza is tense but slowly, he relaxes. 

“Is this good?” Kougami asks. 

“Yes. Kou?” 

“Mmm?” 

“I think,” Ginoza says, “I could love you.” 

Kougami holds Ginoza tighter. 

*

“It's here,” Kagari says. “Tonight, the best hacker gathering you have ever seen, the first ever gathering of hackers in a morgue. Take that, nerds.” 

He slams a printed-out chatroom conversation log on the counter in front of Akane, who picks it up, frowning. 

“We should be there,” she says. 

Kougami, sitting with Ginoza a few feet away, says, “Won't we not blend in?” 

“You won't,” Kagari says, “which is why it's just me and Sho.” 

“That's not safe,” Ginoza says. 

“We can hide,” Akane says. “We'll be fine as long as one of them isn't psychic or something.” 

“And what if one of them is?” Kagari asks. 

“Then we're screwed,” Kougami says, “but honestly, you're better off having back-up. Especially since you're inviting the kind of people who want to screw over the police actively. I mean, even without magic, some of them are probably gonna be dangerous.” 

“You're such a kill-joy,” Kagari says with a pout. 

“We just don't want you to get hurt,” Akane says. 

Kagari rolls his eyes. “Okay, big sister. Whatever you say. But I don't want to see or hear any of you. We should have a secret signal. Like, um...I don't know. If I say-” 

“Just say one of our names,” Kougami interrupts. “That's the simplest way to do it.” 

“You're no fun. And you should also buy Sho and I coffee since we'll be up past our bedtimes.” 

“You work the night shift a lot,” Akane points out. Kagari pouts at her again, and she sighs. “Fine. We'll buy you some on the way to the party.” 

“Dude, I have to set up the party,” Kagari says. “Your job is to pick up Sho and the coffee.” 

“He's Sho now,” Kougami says with a smirk. 

Kagari glares at him. “What's wrong with that?” 

“Nothing,” Kougami says, looking away, still smirking. 

“So I have to go prepare,” Kagari says, cheeks slightly pink. “Be on time. 11:30pm. So you have like half an hour to hide and shit. And don't forget to pick up Hinakawa.” 

“Sho,” Kougami says. Kagari glares at him. 

“We will,” Akane says. Kagari nods and leaves, and she turns to Kougami. “You shouldn't tease him about making friends.” 

“Because he can't make them?” Kougami asks. 

Akane sighs. “We should prepare. Case the place for exits. Maybe lock a few of them just in case someone decides to run.” 

“And lock us inside too?” Ginoza asks. 

“We'll be fine,” Kougami says, touching Ginoza's arm lightly. “Let's get the coffee and pick up Hinakawa. Akane, you go ahead to the morgue and deal with the exits and stuff.” 

Akane nods, and Kougami and Ginoza head out to the car. Ginoza sits in the passenger seat, quiet. Thoughtful. Probably worrying over every single thing that could go wrong. Kougami wishes he could reassure him, but he can't. 

They get the coffee and get Sho, who accepts one gratefully, looking nervous. Ginoza offers him an encouraging smile and makes small talk, but Sho doesn't seem to be one for talking. Either that, or he doesn't want to open up to people who aren't Akane or Kagari. 

They arrive at the morgue, where Akane meets them in the basement. “I've turned on all the cameras,” she says, “so we can record everything and watch it later.” 

“You can,” Kagari says, smiling at Hinakawa. “I'm not gonna sit around for that.” 

“I'll buy you more coffee,” Kougami says, handing him one. 

“Just so you won't have to do it?” Kagari accepts the coffee. “I'll think about it.” 

Akane briefs Kougami and Ginoza about the various exits, which ones are locked and not, and fifteen minutes before people are due to arrive, Kagari broaches the question that all of them have been avoiding. 

“Where are you going to hide?” 

“I want to hear what everyone is saying,” Kougami says. 

“Well the only place to do that is by lying in one of the body shelves,” Kagari says. 

Ginoza blanches, shakes his head, taking a step back. 

“Ginoza and I can go into one of the supply closets,” Akane says. “Only one of us needs to watch what's going on.” 

“If something goes wrong, how are you gonna get out of there?” Kagari asks. “I need to pull you out. It's not easy.” 

“I'll text the others,” Kougami says. “I just want to know what's happening. They can deal with preventing trouble quickly.” 

“This is a terrible idea,” Ginoza says, a bit too sharp. “We'll have the cameras to record everything. Kagari and Sho will both know what's being said, and it isn't as if they have memory issues. Hiding in an enclosed space for hours is ridiculous.” 

“I don't think it is,” Kougami says, bristling. 

Ginoza narrows his eyes. “I don't think you should. I think it's ridiculous.” 

“And I don't,” Kougami says. He turns to Kagari. “So this is what we're doing.” 

Kagari looks like he's about to disagree, but then he shakes his head. “Fine, whatever you want. I have a few free. It should be disinfected. Just don't breathe too hard or you'll lose all the oxygen.” 

“Kougami,” Ginoza snaps, but Kougami steps away from him, towards the wall of bodies. 

“You two, go hide,” he says. “Kagari and I will take care of this.” 

Ginoza allows Akane to pull him away, and Kagari pulls out one of the shelves. Kougami climbs into it, lies on his back, takes out his phone so that he can reach it easily. 

“Ready?” Kagari asks. 

“Do you think this is stupid?” Kougami asks. 

“It doesn't matter what I think,” Kagari says. “You'll do it anyway. But no one wants to think of their loved one posing as a dead body.” 

“What does that mean?” Kougami asks. 

Kagari only rolls his eyes and slides him into the wall. 

* 

Three people arrive a few minutes later and they sit in a circle on the floor, computers out. Kagari's already running a program to mask their location. Hinakawa is quiet, sipping his coffee, not saying anything, letting Kagari do all the talking. 

“There were a string of murders,” Kagari says, “that were really fucking mysterious. Like, the police would bring in these destroyed bodies and no one would say anything, just expect me to deal with them. I think the police fucked up somehow and don't want us to know, but I gotta. You understand, right?” 

The hackers include two women and one guy. The guy, who has brown hair, longer on one side, leans forward. “What kind of destroyed?” 

“One was just pieces,” Kagari said. “They could've just said it was an explosion or something but they attached it to this case.” 

“It sounds like they were in over their heads,” the man murmurs. 

“H-how do you know that?” Hinakawa speaks up. “W-what if they did something wrong?” 

“With an explosive?” one of the women asks. “Police use guns. This wasn't a screw up.” 

“But what are they keeping secret?” Kagari asks. 

“The fact that they can't handle certain criminals,” the man says. “The public would have a meltdown if they knew. But it never went far enough for that.” 

“You think it should've gone further?” Kagari asks. 

“Don't you wonder why the murders stopped?” the man asks. 

“So you say that you have some way to hack them?” the second woman asks. 

The man nods. “But I don't work with other people. Usually. I want to work with these two, alone.” 

The two women look at each other. “We came all the way out here,” one of them says, “because we wanted to see if this claim was true. There's so much we could do with this information.” 

“Exactly. Which is why I can't give it out to just anyone who has some sort of social justice vendetta against the police,” the man says. “That's not going to work for this.” 

“That isn't what we want,” the second woman says. 

“I don't care what you want,” the man says. “The less people involved, the better. Leave.” 

“Fine,” the woman says. “You'll be hearing about this in the chat rooms.” 

The man shrugs, but the two women get up and leave, and the man turns back to the other two. “You're different,” he says. 

“Is it the hair?” Kagari asks, half joking. “You never told us your name, dude. Now I'm kinda curious.” 

“You never told me yours,” the man says, “but I figured it out from the employee records. You did work on the case, Kagari Shuusei.” 

Kagari tries to hide his shock. “Yeah. Okay. How did you figure that out? You haven't even touched the computer. You hacked our systems from your laptop?” 

“No,” the man says. “I don't need to.” 

“What does that mean?” Kagari asks. 

“I'm Choe gu-Sung,” the man says. The familiar name causes Hinakawa to flinch. Choe doesn't seem to notice. “You two have powers. I can feel it. I learned how to read that sort of thing off people from a friend. The two women here didn't.” 

“What can you do?” Kagari asks. 

Choe smirks. “I can manipulate technology.” 

*

Ginoza and Akane sit huddled in the cleaning supply closet. Ginoza leans against the wall, arms wrapped around himself, staring at the opposite wall. 

“Kougami is an idiot,” Ginoza speaks up after some time. 

“Are you okay?” Akane asks. 

“I was,” Ginoza says, “but this place isn't my favorite place, and Kougami likes putting himself in vulnerable positions. If I could take his place, I would. If he would listen to me, that would be better, but he thinks my worries are stupid.” 

“He doesn't,” Akane says. “He's just stubborn. I've known him for years and he's always been that way.” 

“My worries are stupid,” Ginoza mutters. 

“Don't say that.” Akane's voice is unexpectedly hard, firm. Ginoza's head snaps up. She's glaring at him. “I know it's hard for you to feel good about yourself, but you can't doubt yourself at every turn. Especially with someone like Kougami. He needs certainty.” 

“I don't know if I can give that,” Ginoza says. “He seems to have enough certainty for the both of us.” 

“I think you can,” Akane tells him. “You're powerful. Not only that, but you care so much. So deeply. I can see it. You're strong.” 

Ginoza shakes his head. “I don't believe that.” 

“You should,” Akane says. “I'm not a liar. I wouldn't tell you that if I didn't wholeheartedly believe it.” 

“I know,” Ginoza murmurs. “I'm sorry.” He is. He doesn't want Akane to feel like he's not listening to her in the way that he feels Kougami doesn't listen to him. He's stubborn, but he cares about how other people feel. 

“I don't blame you,” Akane says. “I just hope you can believe me one day.” 

Ginoza nods, throat tight. He just wants this to be over. His phone beeps and he checks his messages. “The two women left,” he says, frowning. “Kagari and Hinakawa are alone with the guy.” His phone beeps again and he pales. 

“What is it?” Akane asks, moving next to him to read the screen. 

When she sees what Kougami has found out, she pales, too. 

“I guess,” she says, “the plan worked.” 

Ginoza stares at his phone. “If he can manipulate technology,” he asks, “does that mean that he knows we're here?” 

“I don't know,” Akane says, glancing up and around the small space. “I don't see any cameras? Do you?” 

“No,” Ginoza says, eyes also sweeping the room. “But what about Kougami?” 

“There are no cameras where the bodies are kept,” Akane points out. 

“No, but, there's a reason why he made the women leave, right?” 

Akane frowns. “Do you think he can sense other people?” 

“Maybe not us, but in the same room.” He presses a hand against the door. 

“It'll be fine,” Akane says. “So far, he doesn't know.” 

“Kougami is using a phone.” 

A crash causes them both to jump. 

Ginoza grits his teeth. “Idiot!” 

* 

“That's super cool, you know,” Kagari says. “I wish I could manipulate technology, but I'm just passably good. Hinakawa here is better.” 

“I try,” Hinakawa mutters. 

“Mmm, I can tell,” Choe says. “There's a lot of stuff here. My question for you two is, why is there a cell phone in one of the body storage units?” 

The room seems to freeze for a moment. Then Kagari snaps his fingers, breaking the silence. “You know what? Sometimes I throw my phone in weird places-” 

“Your phone is on you,” Choe cuts him off. 

“Who says I don't have more than one phone?” Kagari asks. “Get with the times.” 

Choe scoffs. “It just sent a text. It's not yours.” He strides over to the storage wall. 

Kagari glances at Hinakawa. Hinakawa shakes his head. 

Choe yanks open the drawer and Kougami's foot kicks him in the face. 

Choe staggers back with a crash into the computers. Kagari yells. Kougami jumps out of the storage just in time for Choe to recover and rush him, knocking him back into the wall. His head meets the metal with a resounding crack. 

“Shit!” Kagari staggers away from the two men. “Shit, what do I do?” 

“I don't know!” Hinakawa also moves back, eyes wide. 

The door bursts open, Ginoza and Akane rushing inside and stopping short at the sight of Choe pinning Kougami to the wall by the neck. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun. 

“Okay!” Kagari claps his hands together as Choe presses the gun to Kougami's head. “This has gotten out of hand. Let's put the weapons down and talk about this like civilized people.” 

“You don't care about the police,” Choe says. “Why am I here?” 

“You worked with Makishima,” Akane says. 

Choe turns towards her and then throws back his head and laughs, long and hard. 

“Why the fuck are you laughing?” Kougami growls. 

“It's been a long time since someone has associated me with Makishima,” Choe says, “but I think now I've found the people who killed him.”


End file.
